


Somebody to die for

by lauwrite



Category: The Last Kingdom (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternative Universe - The Old Guard, Angst, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:40:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28483293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lauwrite/pseuds/lauwrite
Summary: Victoria's life is rather simple until she has a car accident from which she ends up miraculously unscathed. A series of weird events animates her daily life, everything seemingly bringing her to a strange man. Until this very man knocks at her door.-A The Old Guard inspired Alternative Universe.
Relationships: Finan (The Last Kingdom)/Original Character(s), Finan (The Last Kingdom)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 45
Kudos: 42





	1. I'm fallin' so I'm takin' my time on my ride

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, I watched The Old Guard, and this was born. Enjoy!

“Vicky you shouldn’t drive home so late.”

Victoria sighs as she climbs down the few stairs from her parents’ house down to the garden, her mother following her close. It’s dark and the motion detector activates the outdoor light, making the little path leading to where she parked her car more visible. 

“Stay for the night at least, you can leave early.” Her mother insists, arms crossed upon her chest to protect herself from the cold.

“I can’t mom.” She unlocks her car, throwing her bag on the passenger seat before turning around and leaning against the door. “I have to open the shop tomorrow and I don’t want to be late if there’s too many people on the road.” 

“That’s not safe, Vicky.”

“Come on, mom, it’s not the first time I’m driving during the night.” She exhales, sitting in the car and starting it. “I’ll text you when I’m home.” She smiles, ignoring her mother’s eye roll and closing the door. 

She slowly drives away from her parents' house, an old house lost in the middle of Essex. Her mother wasn't wrong about the risk of driving during the night on country roads, but Vicky took this road so many times, she's not really worried. She turns on the radio and turns the sound up when she recognizes the melody of Ride by Twenty one Pilots. Her fingers tap the steering wheel in rhythm with the drum, her head nodding regularly. She knows that song by heart and can't resist singing the lyrics as she drives in the direction of London. 

After half an hour of driving, a heavy rain is now falling, Vicky starts to regret not having listened to her mother. She woke up early this morning to be in time for the family lunch her parents have been harassing her about for a month. She yawns, her hand passing through her blond hair as she drives on a small quite deserted road. She tries to turn up the music louder to not fall asleep, but inevitably, her head starts to nod and her eyelids grow heavier. She closes her eyes, just one second, but when she opens them again, she’s blinded by the headlights of another car in front of her. Panicked, she hits the brake with all her strength, a slew of insults escaping her lips. The person in the vehicle in front seems to do the same and swerves. But inevitably, the two cars meet and the shock makes Vicky’s head hit the steering wheel violently. 

For a long moment, it’s just darkness and silence and Victoria finds it awkwardly peaceful. She feels weak and out of her body, the strangest feeling she has ever felt. She can’t tell how long she’s been that way but suddenly it vanishes. She’s overwhelmed by all her senses who awaken at the same time. She panics, the feeling of her heart beating resounding in her whole body and the air painfully filling her lungs. She abruptly opens her eyes, straightening until the back of her head hits the car seat. 

It takes her a few minutes to calm her breath and to realize where she is, morning’s light blinding her. She’s still in her car, the windshield broken in a million pieces dispersed everywhere. She quickly notices the blood on the steering wheel and her clothes and immediately she brings her fingers to her forehead and indeed she finds fresh blood, but no wound. It should have reassured her, however it horrifies her. She tries to open the door and has to force it to finally leave the car. In the process, she falls on the floor and crawls to move away from the vehicle. The sleeves of her shirt are torn and stained with blood, but again, she’s perfectly healthy. Her confusion makes her sick and she leans on a side to throw up, her whole body shaking with a long thrill. 

Once her stomach is emptied she starts to look around her, now that there’s daylight she is able to see the fields that expand as far as the eye can see. She’s alone on this road, with her car with smoke coming out of the hood and absolutely no sign of the other vehicle. She stands on her feet, her legs shaking, and walks a little further to see if there’s anyone.

“They fucking left me alone.” She grumbles as she realizes she really was utterly alone. 

She walks back to her car and grabs her bag and jacket before searching her phone. When she finally has a hand on it, she sighs of relief. Though it doesn’t last long as she discovers how the screen is cracked. 

“New car and new phone it is, then.” Victoria speaks to herself, more to try to stay calm than anything. Fortunately, it’s still working but she realises right after that there's no signal. “Obviously.”

She looks around her one last time before facing the facts, she has to walk back home. She fills her bag with the important papers stacked in her car before walking away. After a quarter hour of walking, she starts to recognize where she is and estimates she should arrive in a village in another quarter hour. This time alone gives her the occasion to try to understand what happened last night. She obviously got into a car accident and the other person involved let her on her own, didn't even try to search for help, it is morning now, in six hours at least, if they left to find help, they should have already been back. No, they left her on her own as if she was dead. 

Victoria stops, the thought troubling her. She can't explain what she felt after the accident, she has already fainted a few times in her life, and it has never been like this before. But what is even more troubling, is that she's perfectly healthy, not even a scratch despite the blood she found on her clothes and in the car. Nothing is making sense.

She covers her face with both of her hands, then rubs her eyes as waking up from a bad dream. But she's still in the middle of a road, in the middle of nowhere. 

“What the hell?!” She shouts, frustrated by so much incomprehension. 

She continues to walk, she wipes the blood from her face before she reaches the village and puts her jacket on to hide the state of her clothes. She has no idea of what happened and she definitely doesn't want to have to explain it to anyone. She finishes her way home with public transports, and it's past midday when she arrives in London. She gets a few messages, from her boss and even more from her mother. She sends excuses to her boss with a lie and another lie to her mother, saying she fell asleep and forgot to text her before. 

Once she's in her small flat, she rushes to the shower after throwing her clothes in the washer. She stays at least an hour under the water, her mind playing the past events over and over until she's upset again. When she steps out of the shower, she’s starving. So she grabs the first thing she finds in her fridge, which happens to be the leftovers of her lunch from two days ago. She tries to remain distracted, turning on the TV and starting an episode of Game of Thrones, her best friend Rebecca has been harassing for a month to start watching the show. And for a brief hour, she’s captivated by the Battle of Bastards, and by how good looking Kit Harrington is in armor.

The rest of the day is uneventful and when Rebecca visits her later in the afternoon Victoria hesitates to talk to her about her accident. But she’s pretty sure she’d simply think her completely crazy. 

“Are you alright, Vicky?” Rebecca eventually asks when she hands her a cup of tea. 

Victoria smiles kindly. “Yes.” She’s not used to lying to her best friend. They have known each other since middle school and she could count the number of times she lied to her on one hand, one being for her surprise birthday for her 18th birthday. “Why are you asking?”

She sits next to her friend on the couch, bringing her own cup of tea to her lips to blow on it. “I don’t know you’re very silent. And you said you weren’t feeling good this morning.”

“Oh… Well it was nothing, just felt nauseous.”

Rebecca narrows her dark eyes but doesn't push further. “How were your parents?” She asks, changing the subject, much to Vicky's pleasure.

“They were fine.” She takes a long sip of her tea. “They wondered if you'd like to come for dinner one day.”

Rebecca grins, her parents have always been pretty fond of her, even proposing her to join family events. It never bothered Victoria who was happy to have a friend with her. “Of course, I'll come. I just need a date.”

“I'll text you.”

Rebecca leaves after dinner and as soon as the door is closed Vicky falls into her bed, exhausted. She doesn't have time to overthink as usually when she tries to find sleep, she finds Morpheus' arms the moment she closes her eyes. But her sleep is far from being peaceful, her dreams bringing her sometime in the Middle Age, judging by the clothes of the men surrounding her. She's in the middle of a fight opposing warriors with long hair and tattooed faces and others with more modest appearance, only a fire alighting the area. She looks around her, trying to understand the scene, but her vision is almost constantly brought back to one of the warriors. It's a tall man, wearing leather armor above a greenish tunic, with dark hair and beard. He is using his sword with such ability, his movements swift and precise, Vicky can't help but be impressed. From the corner of her eyes she can see men falling and how trees seem to delimit a clearing. She looks up to the sky and can see the stars shining in the sky, never before she has seen them so clearly. Then, a sound catches her attention and she's staring at the warrior again. He is not fighting anymore, frozen and his face twisting into a grimace. She looks down to his abdomen in sync with him and she gasps as she sees the sword coming out of his belly. And it's like she can feel all his pain as the sword leaves his body, her guts tearing apart. The man coughs blood, falling on his knees, his hands pressed on the gaping hole in his abdomen. He finishes his fall, head first in the mud and Victoria can feel the life leaving his body as the man takes his last breaths, his brown eyes looking into the void. 

Victoria wakes up abruptly, sweating and panting. She presses a hand on her chest, desperately trying to calm her breath. Once she's calmed she pours herself a cup of water, still haunted by the sensation of her dream or maybe nightmare. She doesn't find sleep after that, so she just lies on her couch, watching TV, until morning comes and the hour she has to leave for work. 

It's only the first night of a dozen as sleepless. Most of the time, she finds herself in the Middle Age, in various places, some faces regularly appearing. Sometimes she's in other periods, even in modern days. But the common point to all her dreams is this man. Each time she can see him more clearly, his thick hair is most of the time cut short around his ears, a scar slashing his forehead while two small others are ornamenting his left cheekbone. One day, she decides to draw him, she spends the afternoon on it, but she's determined to make it as realistic as possible. As the lines darken the paper, she realizes how the man reminds her of someone. She sends the drawing to Rebecca without much explanation and she immediately replies to her that he reminds her of the guy from the conspiracy theory video they watched one late night.

Victoria takes the time to search the video in her browser history, and indeed, Rebecca was right. The man is the spitting portrait of the one called the “time traveler”. She watches the video with probably much more interest than the first time, desperate to understand why he is haunting her nights. That's clearly the least credible story she has ever heard: a man, the same man, captured in pictures at different places and at different periods of time. A guy talented with photoshop could perfectly create this whole theory. She sighs, closing her laptop and just comes to the conclusion that her brain registered the man's face when she watched the video with Rebecca and simply has a fixation on it since. 

Curious to know the origins of the other faces she can see in her dreams, she draws them as well and she finds herself with three other men. The younger looking is blond with a bowl cut, a long face and an endearing smile. The two others look much more like warriors, one has long hair tied and shaved on the sides, his eyes a piercing blue, the other has different colour eyes and a tattoo covering the side of his neck. Once again, she sends her drawings to Rebecca but this time she has no idea of where she could have seen them. 

Days pass, the dreams don't fade but Victoria forgets about her accident and all the strange things that happened, until the police call her. Obviously, her car had to be found as she didn't call anyone to take care of it, she just wanted to forget what happened. She tries to give the best explanation to the police, telling them she's alright and shock made her forget to deal with her broken vehicle. After an hour on the phone they finally let her alone, adding that if she wanted to file a complaint there would probably not be a lot of results. She just replies that she will think of it, when in fact she won't at all.

As things couldn’t get weirder, one afternoon she meets an odd customer at the bookshop she’s been working for years now. She doesn’t notice him particularly, until she feels like he is staring at her behind his sunglasses. She tries to ignore him, but can’t resist staring back. He is wearing a grey sweatshirt, the hood covering his hair, but at the color of his beard she guesses it’s as dark. There’s something familiar to him and decided to understand what his problem with her is, she fully turns to face him. 

“Can I help you?”

The man seems to freeze, his hands sinking in the pockets of his trousers. He lowers his head and reads the badge with Victoria’s name on her jacket. He looks back to her and this time she raises an eyebrow, her arms crossing over her chest. 

“No that’s alright.” He mutters with an accent she doesn’t get in the moment. “Sorry for botherin’ ya.” 

He steps back and leaves the bookshop without another word. She doesn’t move for a moment, frowning and still staring at the shop’s door. She has dealt with a thousand customers in five years of working here, sometimes extremely weird, even more than this one, however it’s him who remains stuck in her head even a few days after his visit. 

But the culmination of this month filled by weird events happens a week after the man came to the bookshop. It’s a friday, and as usual, Vicky has her free afternoon and spends it at her flat, watching the last episode of Game of Thrones while drawing. But she’s interrupted by a knock on her door. She frowns, pretty sure she expected no one to come today. The person knocks again and she gets up from her desk chair. She unlocks the door, opens it, and before she can even say “hello”, she gasps in surprise at the sight of the man standing in front of her. 

Victoria has no doubts. It’s the man from her dreams or the one theorists call the “time traveler”, standing in the corridor of her floor with a tight, uncomfortable smile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A first chapter full of misteries ahah ! Don’t hesitate to comment, express your ideas regarding what could happen or whatever could happen, I’m really curious to know ahah! 
> 
> So I'll post every friday, I have 6 chapters already written so far, so there shouldn't be any problem eheh. See you next week for some answers ;)


	2. There's a truth and it's on our side

Victoria blinks several times at the man standing right in front of her. Her eyes go down and up his body, analysing every inch of him and when she realizes he is wearing the same sweatshirt as the man in the bookshop, she’s panic-stricken. He doesn’t even have the time to say a word as she closes the door in his face and presses her back against it. Did this psychopath follow her to her home? She doesn’t see any other explanation, or maybe it’s just the one making the most sense. Because even if it's the guy from the bookshop, it doesn’t explain why he is the one she’s been dreaming of for a month now.  _ Christ, things couldn’t get weirder.  _

She gathers all the courage she has and shouts through the door. “Who the hell are you?”

She hears the man scoff, the sound attenuated by the door. “Ya wouldn’t trust me if I tell ya like this.” 

Her fingers nervously drum on her thigh. “Are you… Are you the “time traveller”?” This question would probably make her sound crazy, but a stranger knocking at your door after following you from your work place is undoubtedly crazier. The thought makes her realize that keeping talking to him maybe isn’t in fact the best idea, and as the man hesitates to answer, she looks around for her phone. 

“Hum… Yes kinda.” He replies and Vicky freezes. He doesn’t even deny, which confirms her assumption that he really is mad. “But I’m not really a time traveler.” 

Victoria frowns. “What do you mean?”

“That’s hard to explain to a door.” He jokes but Vicky doesn’t laugh, so he answers in a more neutral tone. “I think you and I are the same.”

“The same?” She repeats, her eyes finally falling on her phone. She walks aways from the door to take it from the table and leans against the door again. 

She starts to type the number of the police when he speaks. “It’s goin’ to sound really weird. But… I’ve seen ya in my dreams.” Victoria immediately pauses, her thumbs hovering over the keyboard. Her breath strangely accelerates as she considers his words. 

“How can I know you’re telling me the truth?”

“Ya’ve been in a car accident. That’s the first dream I’ve got of ya.”

Victoria is breathless. She has spoken to no one about it, only giving lies, affirming her car has been stolen. She doesn’t know if his answer should reassure her or not, but she switches off her phone and slides it in her pocket before unlocking the door and opening it just slightly. “How do you know that?” She asks him, her voice between fear and curiosity. 

The man’s gaze is soft as he rubs the back of his neck. “Told ya, I dreamt of it. Maybe we could talk inside? It's better if there’s no one to hear us.”

Vicky hesitates, staring alternatively between him and the inside of her flat, until she finally moves away. Every part of her mind is screaming at her how bad an idea it is to let this strange, very strange man in, but her intuitions and curiosity are thinking otherwise. She has spent the weirdest month of her life, and something is telling her he would have the answers. 

“What’s your name?” She asks, closing the door behind him.

“Finan.” He smiles. “And ya’re Victoria?”

She narrows her eyes at him. “I am.” She studies him from a decent distance, actually more like a safe one. He is every bit of the man she’s been dreaming of, tall, thick dark hair, a few scars on his face, strong shoulders and something she has grown to find endearing about him, his childish smile. She wonders if he knows she’s been dreaming about him as well, he would have probably already mentioned it if he did. “So, why do you think we are the same?” She asks, her arms crossed over her chest. 

Finan looks around, as if to be sure that there is no one else listening. “I think you died during your accident.” 

“What?” She exclaims, her eyes widening. “I wouldn’t be standing here if I was dead.” She answers, tilting her head at what seems to be obvious to her. 

“That’s why I said you  _ died _ .” He replies, insisting on the last word. 

“So I came back to life?” 

“Yes.”

“That’s the craziest shit I’ve ever heard.” She says in an awkwardly neutral tone.

Finan rolls his eyes. “Then you should have a wound, anything that would prove you’ve had a crash. T’was quite violent of what I remember.” He raises an eyebrow and Vicky finds nothing to answer. He is right, she is miraculously alive, but the blood she found in the car and on her clothes doesn’t match that reality.

“How do you know all of that?” She asks again.

He moves forward but she immediately steps back. “I told ya, I think we’re the same. I died several times before.”

Vicky’s face twists in disbelief. “I can’t believe that.” She says. 

The man sighs, his shoulders falling heavily and looking up to the ceiling. “I guess I don’t have another choice than to make ya believe me.” He puts his hand in his pocket and removes a folding knife from it. 

“What are you doing?” She panics, stepping back even more.

He raises his hands in sign of peace. “Calm down, I won’t hurt ya.” He promises.

However, he unfolds the knife and to Victoria’s surprise he doesn’t try to attack her, but brings it to his neck. Finan takes a deep breath and murmurs something before sinking the blade in his throat, grimacing at the pain that occurs. A scream of horror escapes her as he falls to the floor, blood coming out of the wound and his mouth. She rushes to his side, removing the knife and pressing her hand on his throat to stop the bleedings.

“No, no, no, no… Stay with me, please.” She freaks out while Finan is bleeding to death on the floor of her flat, gasping for air. He holds her gaze, and in contrast to the time she dreamt of his death, he seems calm. With her other hand, she tries to find his pulse, but there’s nothing. “No…” She whispers, breathless. “No, no, no! You can’t be dead!” She starts to shake his shoulders and as he remains inert, she grabs her phone in her pocket and starts to tap the emergency number, trying not to tremble too much.

But before she can press on the green button, Finan takes a deep breath as if he is coming out of the water. Surprised, she drops her phone and falls back. He coughs several times, spitting blood as he sits up. Victoria can’t keep her wide opened eyes from him, especially when she notices how the wound in his neck heals by itself in a minute until there’s nothing, not even a scar. He wipes the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and looks at the red puddle around him. 

“Hum… Sorry for the mess.” He apologizes as his eyes meet hers.

But Vicky can’t care less. “You were dead, and you’re fucking alive.” She whispers, not believing what she just witnessed.

“D'ya trust me now?” He asks her.

Vicky opens her mouth, but no sound comes out of it. She rubs her face with both her hands, not caring about the blood still on them. None of this makes sense, but it is undeniably real. “How did you do that?” She questions him, removing her hands.

Finan's gaze darkens for a brief moment. “I wish I knew.” He stands up, stretching his arms and her mind still can't grasp the fact that a few minutes ago he was dead. He walks towards her but he keeps the same distance she has settled before. “But I'm sure the same happened to ya.” 

Victoria looks up to him and there's some sort of joy sparking in his eyes to know she is like him and she wonders if until now, he has been the only one like this. She frowns, she knows nothing of him, but in a short time, he has revealed her every secret of what she could only call a  _ superpower _ , and she feels like he deserves to know everything as well. 

“I dreamt of you too.” she says softly and it's Finan's turn to stare at her with wide eyes. 

He crouches in front of her. “Really?”

She shakes her head up and down vigorously. “I saw your death too. But you were wearing a leather armour, fighting in a clearing during the night.” Finan's face becomes as pale as a ghost as she explains her own dreams. “And then you're stabbed from behind, and I can feel all the pain, how the life is leaving your body.” She is quite surprised she succeeds to actually put words on it, thinking of it still giving her thrills. “I dreamt of other things, during other periods of time, but you’re always there.” She concludes, looking up from her bloody hands to him. “What does it mean?” 

“I’ve no idea.”

They both say nothing for a moment, simply trying to understand all the information. Everything seems so surrealistic to Vicky but she can’t deny all of this somehow makes sense. She sighs, like it could clear her confused thoughts and looks at the amount of blood on her floor. 

“Hm… I think I should clean that.” She says, pointing vaguely at the area. 

Finan looks behind him, grimacing. “Aye, let me help ya with that.”

“Sounds fair after you killed yourself in my entrance.” She adds as she rises to her feet, Finan doing so as well, chuckling lightly. 

She walks to a closet and comes back with a mop and a bucket. While she fills it with hot water and a little bit of cleaning soap, she discreetly observes Finan. It’s really strange to see him in a modern outfit after dreaming of him so many times in Middle Age clothes. She frowns, this thought bringing a new question.

“I have a question.” She declares, stepping towards him with the bucket while he grabs the mop she has leaned against a chair.

“Ask it.” He sinks the mop into the water and wrings it out while waiting for her question. 

“When did you die?”

The corner of his mouth rises. “I told ya, I died many times.” 

Vicky rolls her eyes. “I mean the first time.” 

Finan pauses, stopping to clean her floor, his eyes darkening as earlier. “Sometime during the ninth century.” He answers finally.

She makes a strangled sort of noise. “The ninth century? You’re what? A thousand years old? You look barely thirty!”

“I guess I should take that as a compliment.” He chuckles but Victoria isn’t in the mood to share a laugh. 

“Oh fuck me, you must be kidding me.” She sighs, sitting on the nearest chair. “Are you the only one like this?” She hesitates on a word that describes what she means but can't to a better one than : “Immortal?”

Finan shrugs. “As far as I know, there was just me until now.”

“So we are two.” She points her finger at her chest and then his. “Just you and I.” He nods, pinching his lips in a thin line while she shakes her head. “That's fucking insane.” 

“You're tellin' me!” He exclaims exaggeratingly.

But again Victoria ignores his attempt of jokes to ask another question. “How did you find me?”

His cheeky smile fades and he leans on the handle of the mop. “Well, in my dreams I could see moments of your life and I just tried to put all the pieces together.”

“That's creepy.”

This time he is the one rolling his eyes. “Trust me lass, when you'll have kept living for a millennial, being creepy will be the least of your problems.”

“So it was you in the bookshop?” He nods. “And you followed me?”

“I did.” He admits, finished with cleaning the floor. “Alright, maybe it really is creepy.” Victoria raises her eyebrows, as if she's surprised by his affirmation. “But it never happened to me before, and I just… I just had an intuition.”

“Well, it's maybe the least weird thing you told me since you knocked at my door.” She sighs taking the bucket and the mop from his hands to empty it in the toilets. When she comes back after putting everything back into the closet she pays more attention to the blood staining Finan's sweatshirt and her own clothes. “I should change clothes.” She says, pulling the edge of one of her sleeves, already annoyed by the time it will take to clean it correctly. “I must have something for you.”

Finan raises, probably doubting any of her clothes could fit him as she is a head smaller than him. 

“From my ex.” She answers, clearly having read his mind. 

“Ah, yeah. Thank ya.”

She walks away to her bedroom, taking the first clothes she finds and changing, making a pile of the dirty ones. Then she pulls out of a drawer a sweater from her ex that she hasn't thrown away yet. Before coming back to the living room she stops in the bathroom to wash her hands and face from the dried blood. The water is enjoyable, the only thing constant during this day where all her truths are being riled. She stares at her reflection in the mirror, meeting her own green eyes. 

“Maybe it's just a dream.” She says softly and brings her finger to her mouth. She bites in it, hard enough to break the skin. She hisses when she tastes a drop of blood on her tongue. It wasn't a dream. 

Suddenly, knocks at her door startle her and she bursts out of the bathroom. Finan is still in the middle of the living room, looking between her and the door. He looks as panicked as her and Vicky points at the room she just walked out of. 

“Hide in the bathroom.”

Finan doesn't object, grabbing the sweatshirt she hands him on his way. Once she has heard the door of the bathroom closing behind him she rushes to the front door and slowly opens. 

“Becca? What are you doing here?” Victoria asks after recognizing her best friend. 

Rebecca raises a surprised eyebrow. “You seem pleased to see me. I texted you I was coming.” She says, waving the hand with which she's holding her phone. 

“Oh… I'm sorry, I didn't really check my phone.” Victoria rubs the back of her neck. “Anyway, what do you want?”

Rebecca narrows her eyes, warning her that she's sounding weird, so she straightens a little and plasters her best smile on her face. 

“I forgot my gym bag here, yesterday. I just wanted to get it back.”

“Yeah, sure.” Victoria moves away from the door and Becca steps in, patiently waiting for her best friend to come back with the bag. 

She searches in the living room but she becomes pale when she hears a noise from the bathroom. “Is there someone else here?” She hears Rebecca ask. 

At the time she answers, she has found the bag and is walking back to her, quite nervous. “No.” She replies dryly and oh, how bad she is at lying, especially to Rebecca.

Her friend's face breaks into a mischievous smirk. “Are you hiding a boy?” 

Vicky stares at her with wide eyes before scoffing. “Absolutely not!” She hands her the bag quite abruptly. “Here's your bag. Do you need anything else?”

The tan skinned woman studies her for a second, no doubt knowing she's lying and Vicky is sure will probably hear of it in the following days. “No, that's all.” 

As soon as she's gone, Victoria heaves a sigh and turns around when the bathroom door opens. 

Finan's head appears from the small opening. “Am I the boy she's talking about?” 

“Obviously not, you're a thousand years old, old man.” She snaps, joining him.“The hell were you doing?” She pronounces her last words slower as she notices that he is standing bare chested in front of her, his skin covered with scars. She tries to keep her gaze on to his face, the blood now washed away from his beard and neck. “Doesn't matter. Get dressed.”

Vicky waits patiently in the living room for Finan to come back. When he comes back he’s wearing an uncomfortable smile, one of his thumbs jammed in his trousers pocket while he has his dirty sweatshirt in his other hand. There’s an awkward silence but Vicky couldn’t care less, sitting on a chair, her elbows resting on her thighs and her hands sliding into her hair. Finan comes closer to her and gently puts his hands on her shoulder, she doesn’t push him away, even if she wouldn’t usually allow such proximity with a stranger.

“Maybe I should let ya alone, so ya can process everythin’.” He says softly and when she lifts her head his gaze is as soft as his voice. She nods and he squeezes her shoulder before stepping to the fridge and writing something on a post-it glued on it. “That’s the hotel where I sleep, if ya need anythin’.” 

“Thank you.” 

He leaves right after, and somehow, Vicky hoped that as soon as he’d leave things would appear to be just a big joke. But she looks at the finger she bit earlier and there is no mark of her teeth, no wound. Her skin is as soft and healthy as usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright I said I'd publish on Friday, but it technically is in France 💅 
> 
> This chapter is the whole origin of this fic especially the "YOU'RE A 1000 YEARS OLD ???" dialog lmaooo and Finan killing himself to prove he isn't lying💀
> 
> Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, don't hesitate to comment, even a few words is already gold to me or any writer, and see you next week! 💕


	3. We've opened the door, now it's all coming through

Victoria couldn't help but develop a real fascination for the way she's now so easily healing. Most of the time it's only accidental, she drops a glass and cuts herself when she throws the debris or cooks and burns herself. Each time, any wound has disappeared in a matter of minutes. She's still not used to it, but she realizes it doesn't affect her everyday life at all, in fact, she's even starting to like it and finding it pretty useful. She even contemplates talking about it with Rebecca, there’s no secret between them, and this is definitely a big secret. 

And in matters of secrets, Rebecca doesn’t forget that Victoria didn’t talk about the person who was in her apartment a few days ago. “Are you going to tell me about him?” She asks before bringing her frapuccino to her lips while they are sitting at a Starbucks table. 

“About whom?” Vicky raises an eyebrow, feigning misunderstanding.

Becca rolls her eyes, leaning back in her chair. “The boy that was at your flat.”

“There was no boy.”

“A girl maybe.”

“Neither.” Rebecca narrows her eyes, she’s always been hard to convince. And in all honesty, it will be very hard to convince her that there was no one, because when it comes to Vicky’s love life, she’s tough. “I just have plumbing problems.” She lies, looking down to her own coffee.

“Oh, of course, my bad.”

Her friend doesn’t search further, but Vicky is pretty sure she won’t give up and will ask again and again. When she goes back to her place, she doesn’t expect to find Finan sitting on her staircase. She stops a few stairs below, staring at him with wide surprised eyes, waiting for him to raise his nose from the book he is reading. 

“The hell are you doing here?” She finally asks, upset by his lack of reaction.

He looks up to her and smiles, pointing at a small plastic bag next to him. “I came to return ya the sweater.”

Vicky frowns, climbing the last stairs to unlock her door while he is closing his book and standing up. “You know, it was my ex’s, I didn’t particularly want to see it back.”

She can feel Finan behind her, looking down to her. “Ya got a point.” 

She watches him for a brief moment above her shoulder. This time his beard is shorter, which undeniably suits him in her opinion, even if she never had a particular thing for bearded men before. Her ex couldn’t grow a single hair on his chin. “Have you been waiting here for long?”

“Two hours.”

“Creepy.” She replies, opening the door. “Do you want something to drink?” 

“If ya’re proposing.” He shrugs. 

Once again, they were both standing in her flat, though this time she hopes Finan wouldn’t end up dead on her parquet. She comes back from the kitchen with two glasses of water, handing one to Finan before leaning against the table. 

“So…” She begins, determined to know more about the strangest man she has ever met in her life. “I guess you're not living in London, right?” 

He takes a long sip of water before shaking his head. “No, in a small house lost in Ireland.” 

“Alone?” She asks curiously.

“Yes.” He answers after a pause. “Believe it or not, but I try to not make myself too known.” He says slowly, agitating the water in his glass by moving his hand in small circles, his gaze fixed on it.

Vicky tilts her head. “Because of the theorists?”

“In part.” He looks up to her for a brief instant, his deep brown eyes meeting hers. “Before the Second World War, I could live in some place for ten or fifteen years then just move away.” Then he sighs, almost nostalgically. “Now, it’s more complicated, with all the technology.” He meets her gaze again, but this time it’s more intense and severe, making her feel nervous. “No one must know about it.” 

“It’s hardly something I can hide.” Vicky replies, trying to keep the atmosphere light, but she can already feel the unpleasant outcome of this conversation. 

Finan is silent for a long moment, walking to the table to rest his empty glass on it. He’s now close enough for her to have to raise her chin to stare at him, but he avoids her eyes. “That’s why ya’ll have to leave too.”

“What?!” She gasps. “No! I have my family, my friends…”

“Ya don’t understand.” He cuts her off and meets her eyes. “Your family, your friends, everyone is goin’ to grow old and suffer and ya…” He pauses to take a deep breath. “Ya’ll still be yourself and won’t be able to do anythin’ for them.”

Victoria is breathless, both because of what he has just told her and because of how she can read in his eyes that he knows what he is talking about. Though, letting everything behind, all her life, doesn’t sound like an option to her. She straightens, as if she could tower him, but she’s still a head smaller. 

“And where would you want me to go? I’ve not been living on my own for a century, if I disappear, it won’t go unnoticed.” She replies, her arms tightly crossed over her chest.

Finan sighs. “Listen Victoria, maybe ya're family is wonderful and will accept it. But nowadays, one person knowin', and it's potentially the whole word who would know.”

Victoria frowns, understanding the warning behind. “Do you think people could want us bad if they knew?” 

“It wouldn't be the first time.”

She bites her lips, her teeth sinking into the tender flesh as she looks down to her glass. She has to admit it, if the knowledge of their existence ever fell into the wrong hands she doubts scientists, politicians or whoever could find interest in their abilities would let them live freely. It feels so surreal, she’s always lived a rather simple life, not that she’s ever complained about it, but since she let Finan step into her apartment a week ago everything has been shaken out. 

“Ya still have time.” He adds, his hand resting on her shoulder in a gentle way.

Victoria nods. “Are you going to stay around? Or go back to Ireland?”

Finan hesitates, his palm leaving her shoulder to rub his face. “I don’t know yet.”

“Well…” She says and he stops scratching his beard. “I still have a lot of questions. So if you could stay around for a short while.”

Vicky is surprised by how endearing she finds the smile that grows on Finan’s face, small wrinkles appearing in the corner of his eyes. “If ya want me too.”

And so, Finan remains in London, spending his time in the mediocre hotel, of what Vicky has seen on TripAdvisor, that he is renting. The rest of the time he is with her in her apartment, answering every of her questions. She enjoys learning about his life, usually over a beer, and it seems Finan does as well. In the course of a few days she learns that he was born in Ireland sometime during the ninth century and that he left for England where he fought for a saxon lord, during Alfred the Great's time. He’s easily the most interesting man she’s ever met. But he also has the talent to make every story more interesting than any of her history teachers ever succeeded. He describes each battle he took part of with so many details Vicky wonders how he can remember everything.

“Fightin’ was the only thin’ I was good at, so I kept doin’ that.” He says after she has asked why he devoted his life to fighting.

Vicky uncaps a new bottle of beer and sits next to him on her sofa. “But you don’t fight anymore.”

“Nah…” His eyes darken in the same way as when he remembers a sadder part of his life, which Victoria is getting used to having only brief explanations of. “After the Second World War, I felt like I needed some peace.”

“I can understand.” When she was small, she remembers her grandmother talking of how the war changed her father from a lively and smiling man to a silent and constantly gloomy one. Finan had fought in more wars than she can count and to know that this one has signed the end of his warriors life reminds her of how it was a war like no other.

But her time with Finan isn’t only about morbid battles, the warrior had his share of travels. When he’s talking of them, it doesn’t sound like the world she knows. He describes places still untouched by the desire of humanity to build its own tower of Babel.

“Have you been to America? After Christopher Colombus discovered it.” She asks curiously another day.

Finan chuckles. “Nah, I’ve never liked the sea. So crossin’ a whole ocean for some lands...” 

“Some lands? It’s like one of the greatests discoveries in history!” She answers feigning offense, her hand pressed to her chest. “You’ve never been curious about all the gold you could have found there?” She leans back on the couch, bringing her bottle to her mouth. “Maybe you’d have been rich.”

“Pity.” He smirks, being rich clearly being the least of his ambitions. 

Besides their discussions about Finan’s life they also have normal conversation. She lends him books from the shop, crossing her fingers that no one would notice some of the books are disappearing for a few days. The second time she does that, she adds a phone to the small pile of books she hands him. Finan frowns at it and then at her. He slides the books in his bag before studying the cell phone. It’s the simplest and cheapest she has found, just a screen and a keyboard, it only cost her 10£.

“Why are ya givin’ me that?” He mutters, doubtful. Vicky finds it amusing, despite having lived through all the evolution of modern technologies, Finan seems to be as comfortable with it as her with administrative paperwork.

“Well...” She starts, putting the groceries she just bought in her refrigerator. “I just thought it would be easier for me to send you a text when I’ve finished work. Not that it bothers me that you wait for me in the staircase, but I doubt it is comfortable.”

“I was getting used to it. I haven’t bein’ waitin’ in front of a Lady’s door for ages.”

Vicky looks at him from above her shoulder and can’t help the redness rising in her cheeks when he grins amusingly. She immediately looks in front of her again when his gaze travels from the phone to her. “I doubt I correspond to your definition of a Lady.” 

“I’ve got a very broad definition.” She could hear his smirk as he speaks, the one that she has started to notice being so characteristic for him and all she can do is to answer with an awkward giggle.

When she’s done, she turns around and crosses her arms against the counter, Finan standing at the other side. “Have you… Have you had many relationships since you first died? I mean, serious ones.” She’s almost certain he won’t answer this question, but living eternally without anyone to love has been scaring her for a few days.

“One.” He answers surprisingly fast. “It didn’t end well.”

Victoria nods slowly, his answer being enough and understanding it isn’t a subject he wants to dwell on. Apart from the arrival of Finan, her life doesn’t change at all. She keeps working at the bookshop, drawing in her sketchbook when there are no customers. Vicky has always loved to draw, a passion she has inherited from her mother. Sometimes, she wishes she had the guts to apply to art school after high school instead of getting herself into business studies that she grew to dislike. When Finan asks her why she didn’t follow her dream, she answers that did it to stay with Rebecca. Her best friend has always been better than her when it came to school, and her parents always felt the need to compare them. Doing the same studies as her was more to prove to her parents she could do it too. At the end it has been an absolute failure, Vicky giving up her studies and finding a job in the bookshop.

One day, she has a call from her mother while she walks back to her flat. 

“Do you think Rebecca would still like to join us for dinner one night?” Vicky’s mother asks through the phone. 

“Sure, especially if you make her lasagna.” She smiles.

Her mother laughs. “Rebecca loves beef stew.”

“True, but I crave for lasagna.” Vicky justifies herself, the simple idea of her favorite food creating a hole in her stomach.

“Alright sweetheart. This weekend then?”

“Great! I’ll tell her.”

When she hangs up, her attention on her phone, she doesn’t realise she’s walking into someone until two strong hands grip her shoulders to stop her. She jumps and looks up in surprise, about to step back until she recognizes the man with sunglasses and a hoodie as Finan, whom she texted earlier when she walked out of the bookshop.

“Watch out, lass.” He warns, smiling anyway.

“Sorry, I was texting Rebecca.” She explains, easing under his grip. He removes his hands, his fingers lightly grazing her arms. They walk together to her flat together, Finan silently following her while she finishes her text. When they reach the building and climb up the stairs she finally starts to talk to him. “I won’t be here on Saturday.”

“Oh?”

“Family dinner.” She unlocks the door and Finan answers with a low hum. 

Their evening goes as usual except that this time, Victoria proposes to him to stay for the night. 

“I mean it’s late, and it’s raining. I would be a really bad friend if I kicked you out.” She says, waving her hands while he stares at her with a raised eyebrow.

“So we’re friends now?” He grins, leaning over the table. 

Victoria looks away. “I still consider you the creepiest man I’ve ever met. But if you’re the only person I’ll have to support for eternity, I guess I’d better consider you as a friend.”

When she finally dares to look at him, he has the broadest smirk pulling at his lips and she has to admit it, he really is handsome, with his dark, however sparking, eyes. “Friends we’re, then.”

After she has prepared the couch for Finan to sleep, she joins her bed. As usual, since she had her accident, Victoria struggles to find sleep, and knowing that Finan is sleeping in her living room isn’t helping. Not that she fears him, but she can’t help but overthink about her reaction around him. It’s been a while since she’s found a man truly attractive, not only physically, but his whole being. And in all honesty, with how awkward their meeting has been, it definitely is not a feeling she expected.

She finally falls asleep listening to a Florence + the machines playlist. But much to her dismay, her sleep isn’t peaceful. Since she has met Finan, the dreams have seemed to disappear, but tonight is different. Victoria is back in the forest where the Irishman died, she can even see him from the corner of her eyes, but her attention is mostly focused on the young blond man she has drawn. He is fighting as well, until he is hit by a shield. He stumbles, falling on the floor and catching his breath after the rough impact. And Vicky can feel his fear when a Dane, of what Finan told her of this night, slices his throat in a sharp blow. The young man chokes in his own blood and she shakes in horror as she can feel the life leaving his body as she did with Finan. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ehehe so guys, what do yall think this dream means ? 👀  
> I hope you liked this chapter where we get to know more of both Finan and Vicky, I really love how they get along together!
> 
> Also, for the great fans of TOG that would read that, I am taking liberties regarding how dreams works during all this fic, I haven't read the comics, only seen the movie and to transcribe such thing is kinda hard. I hope yall won't mind and appreciate how work with them 🤷♀️
> 
> See you next Friday for a very interesting chapter ;), love on yall!! 💕


	4. I’m not calling you a liar, just don’t lie to me

Victoria wakes up suddenly, a frightened scream escaping her. She is sweaty and panting, her hands resting on her chest as she stares at the darkness surrounding her. Soon enough, the obscurity is broken when the door of her bedroom opens, letting in the light from the corridor. Finan is standing in the doorway but she can't read his expression as she sits up on her bed. 

“Are ya alright?” He asks, walking carefully towards her. 

She nods quickly, catching her breath in slow inhales and exhales again, but she's still shaking. He sits on the edge of her bed, his worried eyes studying her face and his hand rubbing her back. 

“I'm alright.” She whispers. “It was just a dream.” 

Finan suddenly stops his movement, making her look at him, his eyebrows furrowed. “D'ya still have dreams?”

“After I met you it stopped.” She explains, rubbing her face and then letting her hands slide in her hair. “But I was back in the forest, where you died. You were still here, but I was staring at that young monk.” Finan's fingers tense against the fabric of her shirt, but she doesn't pay attention to it. “It was just like for you. I felt him die.” 

Victoria sighs, confused and still shocked. Finan's palm leaves her back and she turns her head to him. “Is it the first time ya've been dreamin' of him?”

She shakes her head. “No… No it isn't.” She stands up, walking to her desk to search for a paper. She feels Finan's gaze on her before she hears him walking behind her. “When I started to dream about you, I drew you.” She explains, pointing at a portrait of Finan. He takes it delicately while she keeps looking for the others. “Here!” 

She grabs her drawing of the young monk and hands it to Finan. His face falls and he mutters something inaudible.

“I think I've seen him through your memories.” She continues, ignoring the way he retreats, his eyes still fixed on the paper, until his calves hit her bed and he sits on it. “Do you know him?” She asks, crouching in front of him to try to meet his eyes. 

Finan's jaw clenches and she squeezes his knee, calling him softly, but he is desperately captivated by the young man from her dreams. His reaction however is enough for her to understand that he isn't a stranger to him.

“Finan, if I've been dreaming of him, maybe that means he isn't dead. Maybe he is like us.” She says, a hopeful and reassuring smile growing on her lips. 

She thought the news would have pleased him, especially after being lonely for a millennium. And it seems that this monk is someone he used to know, one more reason for Victoria to think that he should be happy. But there's not even the shadow of a smile on his face. Instead, he exhales slowly, putting the drawing beside him onto the blanket.

“I know.”

Vicky blinks, confused. “What do you mean, you know?” 

“I know him and I know he is alive.” He says emotionless, avoiding her gaze. 

She stands on her feet, her eyes wide open. She can't believe he has been lying to her and it's a strange feeling that boils in her chest, made of confusion, anger and betrayal. Finan looks up to her and is about to speak but she slaps him across the face. She's as surprised as he is about her action but she can't find the will to apologize while he rubs his cheek.

“You lied to me!” She shouts at him, her voice breaking in disbelief. “You said we were the only ones! You said you've been alone for all this time.”

“It's more complicated than ya think.” He grumbles.

Victoria scoffs. “It's no reason to lie to me! I trusted you!” Finan's jaw twitches but he says nothing, which upsets her even more. But she tries to calm down, wanting to know the truth. “How many are we?”

He hesitates, his fingers drumming on his thigh. “With ya, five.” 

“Fucking five!” She rolls her eyes and walks to her desk to take her two last drawings, handing them to the Irishman. His face darkens even more and she notices how hardly he swallows as he takes in the two men. “Is it them?” 

He nods, and even though she can see the emotions in his eyes, the way tears are threatening to roll on his cheeks, she can only feel anger. She pinches the bridge of her nose, walking in circles around her bedroom. “I can explain ya.” Finan eventually whispers, making her halt.

“I don’t want to hear your explanations.” She says sharply and he stares at her with as much surprise as when she slapped him. She sighs, rubbing her eyes now. “Just… Just leave.” However, Finan doesn’t leave, still fixated on her. “Fucking leave!” She shouts and he finally stands up. 

It’s only when she hears the door of her flat closing that she allows herself to fall on her bed. She feels so betrayed, even though she knows him for a short time, she has accepted that he would be the only forever she would ever know. The only constant when all the people she knows will disappear one by one. But everything was a lie. Well at least one part, but Victoria is blinded by anger. However, she does regret kicking him out of her flat as a hundred questions are rising in her mind and only he could answer them.

She feels that way for the rest of the week, having a thousand questions about the three other immortals, but too proud to accept Finan's excuses and ask him about them. Finan, on the other hand, does try to talk to her, sending her texts and calling her. And she just ignores him.

“Why don't you answer?” Rebecca asks her when they are taking their lunch break together in a small park, Vicky having declined the Irishman's call with a long sigh. 

“It’s nothing important.” She replies before taking a mouthful of her salad. “Is it still okay for dinner on saturday?”

Becca nods. “Yes, I’ll drive you if you want.”

“Oh, that would be great.” She smiles, grabbing her bottle of water.

“When are you planning on getting a new car, by the way?” Rebecca asks her. 

Vicky chokes with her water and coughs a little. “Hum yeah… Soon? I guess? I've got to see.”

Her friend narrows her eyes while Victoria averts hers. “You're really weird these days, Vicky.” She says with a more serious tone.

“What do you mean?”

“I don't know, you're always busy, and when you dare spend time with me, it seems like you'd rather be somewhere else.” She explains, resting her chin on her palm. And suddenly, a mischievous smile spreads on her lips. “Or someone else.” 

Vicky rolls her eyes, Rebecca definitely won't let go of that. She should have known better that after a week of not mentioning it she would return to the attack. “There’s no one, Becca.”

“Sure.” She smirks, pretending to look at something further in the park. “Well, when there will be someone, I would love to hear about that someone.”

“You’ll be the first to know.” Vicky grins exaggeratedly. 

Saturday comes earlier than she expected, and for the last two days, Finan stopped texting her. She can’t tell if she’s happy about it or not, she may still be angry at him, he is the only one able to answer her questions, and especially those about the three other men. So as she drives Rebecca’s car towards her parents’ house she makes a note to herself that she’ll have to text him tomorrow. But in fact she won’t have to do it because her phone rings, and she barely has the time to recognize Finan’s number until Rebecca grabs it.

“Oh my god, no Becca, don’t answer!” She says but her friend just wiggles her eyebrows and presses on the green button. 

“Hello?” She smirks innocently while Victoria is mouthing her insults. She can barely hear Finan’s voice through the phone. “Oh, no Vicky is driving right now, she can’t answer. But she’ll be very glad to see you later, I’m sure.” She grins at her, Vicky giving her a threatening glare. “She’ll be at home at 10.”

She then hangs up, visibly satisfied by her move but Victoria definitely doesn’t have the same opinion. “Why the hell did you do that? It could have been anyone else!” She shouts, raising a hand toward her phone in an annoyed fashion.

Rebecca simply chuckles, looking at the road again. “I recognized the number, you’ve been ignoring all his calls.”

“Indeed, and maybe there’s a reason for that!” She grumbles, trying to remain focused on her driving. 

“What’s that reason?” She asks curiously, something she maybe should have asked before.

Vicky rolls her eyes. “It’s complicated.”

“So, it’s the guy you’ve been seeing for the past weeks?” She tilts her head.

“Christ, you’re really obsessed Becca.” She sighs, glancing at her quickly only to see her mischievous smile. 

When they finally arrive at her parents’ house Vicky is happy to notice her brother’s car while Rebecca’s face falls. The blond grins widely, she’ll have her revenge tonight after all. Since childhood, Rebecca has always had a thing for her older brother, Charles, and since she knew it, Victoria loves to tease her with that. As they walk to the front door, her best friend harasses her with questions about whether or not she knew Charles was here, and she just shrugs. And of course, it has to be him that opens the door and Rebecca can’t look more uncomfortable than when he leans to kiss her cheek after hugging Vicky. 

Charles is two years older than Victoria, and like she likes to call him, the intelligent one, while she is the weird one. For two years he’s been studying in Edinburgh and coming back home only occasionally, and usually without a warning. Obviously, with both Rebecca and Charles at home for dinner Vicky is far from being the center of the discussion, which doesn’t displease her as it gives her the opportunity to slip away to the kitchen when she receives a text from Finan. She can’t help but smile at his message saying that he suspects her not being consensual about their meeting later and that if she wants, they can cancel. Vicky hesitates a moment before answering. Maybe she can still be upset at him and see him to have answers. She’s yearning to know what made him lie to her, and who those men are and if maybe she could meet them too. So she texts back that they still should meet tonight anyway.

“Holy shit, the parents won’t stop with their questions.” Charles complains as he enters the kitchen with a pile of plates. 

Victoria slides her phone in her pocket and grins at him while opening the dishwasher. “That’s the problem when you’re the intelligent one.”

He laughs, his golden locks shaking. He puts the plates in the machine and leans against the counter once it’s closed. “Rebecca hasn’t changed a bit.” He says softly, with a shy smile.

Victoria raises an eyebrow at her brother, wondering what he truly meant by this comment but her mother shouts at them to bring the dessert before she can ask. During the whole rest of the dinner she keeps staring between her brother and best friend, trying to catch something that would betray him, but Charles is clearly better than Becca at hiding feelings. This new distraction makes her forget all about the past strange days she has been through, and she feels like a teenage girl desperate to learn every gossip around. But when dinner ends it makes her awkwardly sad, Finan’s warning about the fact that one day she’ll have to leave everything behind coming back to her mind. So, as if she’s just learned the date of her death, which ironically could never happen in fact, she decides to enjoy every moment with her family and close friends to have no regrets. 

That’s how she ends up talking of their future summer holidays with Rebecca in the car while she drives back to London. She checks destinations on her phone, both of them debating on which is better between Greece and Sicilia. Time goes quicker and soon enough Rebecca stops in front of her building with a teasing grin. 

“Have a good night.” She winks.

“Fuck off.” She replies after pulling her tongue out and leaving the car. 

She looks around until she finds Finan leaning against a wall, as usual, his hood covering his face. She steps toward him and he straightens, an apologetic smile shadowing on his lips. Before he could say a word, Vicky speaks. 

“I’m still mad at you.” She declares crossing her arms over her chest.

“It has the merit of bein’ clear.” He tilts his head, his mouth forming a straight line. 

She ignores his remark and continues. “But I still have many questions. The first being why you lied to me?”

Even in the darkness of the night, just a few lampposts lighting the area, she can see how his eyes suddenly seem lost in what she supposes are memories of long gone days. “It’s a complicated story.”

“As if there’s anything simple with you?” She wryly asks and he chuckles while nodding.

“Right.” He sinks his hands in his pockets and briefly looks up, his gaze hovering over the window of her flat. “Maybe I could explain ya inside?”

“Yeah, I’m freezing.” She admits before walking to her building’s door, Finan following her. 

They climb the stairs quickly, glad to feel the warmth of the inside. She searches her keys in her pocket when they reach her floor but when she stretches her arm out to open the door and push the key into the lock something is wrong.

Noticing her hesitance, Finan steps behind her, leaning slightly above her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“The door is open.” She says and then shakes her head. “I must have forgotten to lock it correctly.” 

She ignores Finan’s furrowed eyebrows as he looks at her and pushes the door open. She steps in her flat, and she has an unpleasant feeling of a stanger’s presence growing in her chest. She first thinks she’s being paranoid, but when she reaches her kitchen and finds herself face to face with a man pointing a gun at her she realizes she wasn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't kill me for that end, i beg you :(((  
> I'm so excited about it though, we really are getting into the story eheh  
> Thank you so much for reading! Don't hesitate to comment, your opinions, good or bad, always interest me and helps me to improve :) 
> 
> Love on u all <3  
> See you next friday !


	5. I think that God is gonna have to kill me twice

Victoria gasps when she sees the man, his threatening eyes studying her briefly, searching for a weapon.

“Victoria?” Finan calls her from the entrance, alarmed by her sudden silence. 

She’s petrified, swallowing hard as her gaze jumps from the gun to the man’s face. She opens her mouth to warn Finan but the man moves quickly, his free hand grabbing her wrist and pulling her against him and instead she lets out a frightened scream. Her back hits the man’s chest and she shivers when she feels the edge of the silencer on his gun on her temple. In a second, Finan appears in the doorway, his eyes widening at the situation. Her gaze locks with Finan’s, her breath shaking in fear while she can feel the man’s breath against the side of her face.

“Don’t move or I'll shoot her.” He barks while the sound of steps coming from behind the Irishman resounds, and Vicky can barely distinguish two other armed men. Finan tilts his head slightly while raising his hands in a sign of peace, just enough to make her understand he has the control over the situation. She would have gladly replied that it looks far from it as they are encircled by three men with guns and are both unarmed. “Good.” The man mutters. 

But Finan doesn’t stay still, instead he turns around and in a swift move he punches one of the two men behind him in the face. He stumbles back, his gun falling on the floor. The other immediately shoots Finan in the shoulder, making him grunt in pain and fall on the floor head first. Vicky gasps his name as she sees the blood spreading around Finan, motionless. The punched man rubs his nose in pain, crouching to take back his gun that had been dropped on the floor. “Fucking idiot.” He grumbles but before his fingers could reach the weapon, Finan’s hand has grabbed it. 

The man makes a noise of surprise, about to step back, but the Irishman rolls on his back, holding the weapon above him. He pulls the trigger and the second after, the man’s face is ornamented by two holes, falling dead onto the ground. Victoria wants to scream, but it’s strangled in her throat as her eyes try to follow Finan’s movements. The man holding her tosses her to the side to attack Finan, making her stumble until she grabs the edge of the counter. She tries to calm her breath while she hears the sounds of the fight, other shooting muffled by silencers. When she eventually dares to look at what is happening, there's only Finan and one last man. The stranger shoots in her friend’s direction while he stands up after stabbing another with his Opinel, but Finan avoids the shot and instead of ending its course in his body, it pierces Victoria’s. 

She cries out in pain, her hands letting go of the counter to press again the wound on her flank, sitting heavily on the floor. The pain is sharp and resounds in her whole body. She pants in panic at all the blood slipping through her fingers, her vision blurred by tears. She barely hears Finan calling her when he kneels in front of her, so his hand cups the side of her face to have her attention. 

“Calm down, it’s goin’ to heal.” He reassures her, his eyes trying to keep holding hers as she tries to calm the jerky rhythm of the rise and fall of her chest. His thumb brushes her cheek gently and she feels the bullet slowly leaving her body by itself until she can feel the cold metal piece in her hand. The pain disappears as well and she starts to breathe more calmly, looking down at her wound and noticing there’s no more blood coming out of it. When she looks up to Finan, he is smiling. “See? As if nothin’ happened.”

Vicky doesn’t answer, her mouth agape as she finds her composure again but when her eyes fall on the three dead men she feels weak again and Finan has to catch her before she falls. She grabs his shoulder, sobbing in his neck while he rubs her back. She can’t look away from the men, their face pale as they were laying in huge puddles of blood. She can’t even feel relieved that she is safe, all she can think of is those lifeless men. 

“We have to leave.” He says softly, but non less urging. 

Victoria pushes aways from him immediately, her hands resting on his shoulders, his sweatshirt pierced multiple times and stained with red. “What? No! No, we’ve got to call the police… To find out why they were here!” She exclaims, gesturing toward the men and her head shaking as she tries to explain her opinion. 

But she’s stopped in her rambling by Finan’s hands clasping at each side of her face, forcing her to look at him another time. She swallows when sees how serious his eyes are this time and she understands that whatever could be her opinion, she’ll have to follow him anyway. “And ya’ll tell them ya did this all by yourself?” Finan raises his eyebrow interrogatively and she only looks down resignedly. “They were well trained men, Victoria, it’s not just burglars.”

“Why were they here then?” She asks even if she doubts him having the answer already. 

“I don’t know, but we’ll find out.” He assures her, his palms sliding to her shoulders. “But now, I give ya ten minutes to take your things and we get the fuck out of here, alright?”

Victoria takes a deep breath and nods. Finan stands up, stretching his hand out to pull her up. She walks out of the kitchen, her legs shaking and trying to keep her away from the dead to avoid increasing her sick feeling. Once she’s in her bedroom she’s petrified again, not knowing what to do, images of the fight troubling her mind. She shakes them off by a quick movement of her head and grabs a bag, stuffing clothes in it randomly. She also puts all the cash she has, guessing it could always be useful. As she does it, she doesn’t notice the tears streaming down her face. What she has been expecting to happen only in years is now happening: she’s leaving everything behind.

She can’t even think of the consequences properly, Finan coming in with one of the small guns stuck in his trousers. “I’d gladly accept a clean sweater.” He says, the lightness of the sentence not matching his tone. She points to a drawer and he steps towards it, removing his dirty hoodie and t-shirt in the process.

“Where are we going?” She asks, holding her now closed bag against her as if she’s a child hugging her teddy bear to find reassurance.

He briefly turns around, and she can notice there’s no mark of the bullets he took during the fight on his skin. “I don’t know.” He puts on the new sweater. “The farthest away possible for the moment.” His hand grabs her shoulder and after a light squeeze he pushes her forward. “Now we go.”

She takes her coat in the living room, looking around one last time, this isn't how she thought things would go. She pinches her lips tightly to not let out a sob and she walks to a shelf to take a photo album, the one her mother gifted her for her eighteenth birthday with pictures of her since she was a baby. She turns around, Finan waiting for her in the entrance with an apologetic expression. She swallows, trying to look stronger than she's actually feeling and joins him after a few determined steps.

“We can go.” She declares. 

Finan's car isn't parked far, and in less than ten minutes they are on the road, taking the direction to where Finan has been sleeping for the past weeks. From time to time she looks at him, his fingers drumming nervously on the steering wheel while she is feeling drained of energy, so much so that she only realises she fell asleep when she hears the slamming of the car's door, startling her.

“Hey! Easy, t'is me.” Finan says raising a hand peacefully as she abruptly moves back instinctively. 

“S… Sorry.” She mutters, looking down. 

And they take the road again, a heavy silence reigning in the car. It's past midnight now and Victoria simply tries to not think too much, focussing on the streetlights. If she trusts the signs they cross, they are driving North in Sheffield's direction. She doubts Finan has any particular intention to go there, all he wants is to go the furthest away possible from London. When she rests her eyes on him, she can't help the thrill that runs along her spine, he has killed them in cold-blood, not even thinking twice. She knows he is a warrior, he has killed countless men and until now it never really bothered her. But seeing it, it's something else.

She looks to her hands, there's still blood on them, her own. She knows she couldn't have died, but it totally disappeared from her mind when she felt the gun against her temple, fear taking control. She has always made herself minor wounds, nothing serious and seeing she was healing faster than anyone felt more like a good trick than something life changing. But now, after taking a bullet, she realises the real burden of immortality: there's no end. And weirdly, when it's that end that scares people, Victoria wishes she had one. Something to give her a reason to enjoy her life. 

“Are ya alright?” Finan asks her when they stop at an old rest stop, Victoria coming back from the toilets with her hands now cleaned of all the blood.

“I don't know.” She sighs desperately, leaning against the car next to him. She frowns when she notices he is lighting a cigarette before bringing it to his mouth. “You smoke?”

He shrugs, breathing out the smoke. “When I'm nervous.” He admits and raises his eyebrows when Vicky gives him a disapproving look. “What? It's not like it's goin' to kill me.” He wryly replies. 

She rolls her eyes, grimacing at the tobacco smell tickling her nostrils. Finan searches something in his pocket, catching her attention. He hands her a folded paper, stained with blood, but when she opens it, most of the information is still readable. She widens her eyes when she recognizes a picture of her, her number, her address, and in fact all the most important information regarding her life. 

“T'was in one of them's pocket.” Finan explains after a long exhale. 

She raises frightened eyes at him, her fingers flexing on the paper. “They were searching for me?” She asks, though the answer was obvious. Finan nods and points a finger to a particular sentence : ‘Immortal.’

“They knew.” A long silence carries away his words, Vicky not realising she’s holding her breath until he moves to crush his cigarette in the ashtray further.

“How’s that possible? I… I spoke of it to no one!” She exclaims in panic, fearing Finan could blame it on her but he simply rubs his eyes with his thumb and index. 

“I’ve got no ideas, Victoria.” He sighs and opens the car to sit on the driver’s seat sideways, his face buried between his palms.

Vicky’s stomach squeezes as she reads the paper again, some information is related to her family and friends and she suddenly fears for them. If there’s others, she has left her phone in her apartment and Finan threw his in a trash in her street, the only things that could permit them to find her again. So what if they try to seek information through them? And she doubts whoever they are that they’ll be kind to them.

“They are all in danger… My family… Rebecca.” She whispers, new tears forming in the corner of her eyes. “We have to warn them! Or take them with us…”

“No we won’t.” Finan replies, stretching his legs and before she can protest, he continues. “They’ll soon enough report your disappearance, they’ll be interrogated by the police and under their protection.” He says, confident. “They’ll be safe.” She knows Finan is probably right, nothing will happen to them, so she nods silently. “Well, we should sleep a little. We’ll take back the road in the mornin’.” He says after yawning. 

Sleeping in the car is far from being comfortable, but they manage to find a way to, Vicky laying on the backseats and Finan on the front passenger leaned seat. However, she can’t find sleep, tossing over and over again, trying to stay covered by the coat Finan has lent her as a blanket. When she closes her eyes, she sees the fight again, her heart racing and her guts twisting. So she just stops to try and stares at an invisible point in the car. She wonders how everyone will react when they’ll learn she disappeared, by noon she guesses a neighbor will have found the opened door of her flat and the three men. She supposes Rebecca will immediately think it is Finan who’s responsible, though she doesn’t even know his name. She’ll feel responsible for being the one organizing their meeting. And her parents, they’ll be devastated. 

She feels terribly bad to be the reason for their pain, to not be able to just send them a message, just to tell them that she’s fine and will be. She’s been such a hard child and teen, too stubborn to listen to her parents. She wasn’t Charles, nor Rebecca, a calm and studious person and still isn’t. She has never felt like she could be a source of pride for them, only a source of worry. And once more, she’s going to be the reason for their troubles. 

She can’t prevent the way her throat tightens and the tear that trickles down her cheek in silence. But one is joined by another and she now can’t prevent the hiccup of pain that escapes her as she sobs. She’s tired of crying, her eyes swollen and aching but she has nothing else to do. Until a hand reaches out to hers through the dark, taking it with such kindness that it stops her cries for a brief instant. She wipes her eyes with her other hand and then meets Finan’s gaze. He is still laying on the passenger’s seat, quite awkwardly so his left hand could hold hers. She can’t read his expression, his face lightened by the road’s light further, he isn’t sorry, nor sad. He stares at her so softly, she finds it reassuring and doesn’t even think of her anger towards him anymore. 

“I know the feelin’, when you lose everythin’.” His thumb rubs her fingers tenderly, making her melt, her eyelids suddenly heavier. “But it will be alright, Vicky.” He promises her, holding her gaze once more and she can see how confident he is.

It’s also the first time that he says her nickname, she doesn’t object, and even if she did, she’s too sleepy to protest. So she smiles tiredly, tightening her grip around his hand, and whispers: “Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, Finan with a gun: HOT.
> 
> Thank you so much for all the comments in the last chapter!! It made me so happy that you appreciate this story! 💕
> 
> Thank you for reading this chapter, I hope you liked it and your opinions are always interesting to read!


	6. Collecting pictures of the flood that wrecked our home

“ _ And now, breaking news: three men have been found dead in an apartment in London this morning, the woman living there is still mis- _ ”

Victoria glares at Finan when he turns off the car radio, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses as he remains focused on the road. She sighs and leans to the side until her cheek is pressed against the window. They’ve been driving for two hours now and the Irishman still hasn’t said where they are going. However, she starts to think that they are going to Ireland to hide in his house lost in the middle of nowhere. The idea annoys her, and the silence even more.

“If we can’t listen to the radio, maybe we can talk?” She proposes, sitting correctly again.

Finan turns his head briefly towards her. “What d’ya want to talk about?”

“Well…” She lifts her chin, looking up to the car’s ceiling. “You still owe me some explanations.”

He doesn’t answer, but she notices how his fingers agitate against the steering wheel. He finally speaks after shifting gear a little abruptly. “I’ll tell ya next time we make a break.”

She holds back a frustrated sigh and looks back to the road. “Are we going to Ireland?”

“We are.” 

“I don’t have any ID card to take the ferry.” She frowns at him and he surprisingly smirks. 

“That’s why we won’t take it.” Victoria furrows her brows even more, which makes him chuckle. “There are fishermen that accept to make the crossing for money.”

“Illegally?” She asks, realising it’s going to be the first illegal thing she does, beside the time she stole lollipops at the bakery.

“Do ya have another solution?” He asks, but of course she has none. 

They make a halt in a small village where Finan buys some food in a market, Victoria waiting for him in the car for safety. Then, they definitely stop on a countryside road, wheat fields surrounding them. She walks around the car while Finan, sitting in the grass, is eating his sandwich, her legs aching after spending so much time in the car. She suddenly stops in front of him, hands on her hips. He looks up to her, his eyes narrow because of the sun behind her.

“Now you can tell me.” 

Finan shifts uncomfortably, slipping his sandwich back into the paper bag. He taps the ground next to him, inviting her to sit. She does so, staring intently at him, impatient to finally know the truth. But Finan isn’t in a hurry, he scratches his beard nervously. She doesn’t urge him though, she knows he’ll tell her.

“So, I told ya I was born during the ninth century, and fought alongside a saxon lord.” She nods, unintentionally already captivated by the story. “He’s named Uhtred. He was Lord of a small village named Coccham in Wessex and legitimate heir to Bebbanburg. We fought so many battles for saxon Kings together, he was a brother to me. With us, there was Sihtric and Osferth, younger than us, but nevertheless good warriors. We were always together, laughing, drinking and fighting.” He smiles nostalgically, his gaze lost in the field in front of them. “T’was the good old days.” 

He makes a pause in his story, his eyes darkening in a way that has been starting to pain Vicky each time it happens. “Are they the men I drew?”

Finan nods. “Aye, the one you dreamt of the other day, it’s Osferth.” 

“I still dream of him.” She added and Finan gives her a strange glare before she clears her throat. “So the three of them are alive too. Sihtric and Uhtred, did they die in the forest too?”

“They did. It was an ambush, those bastard danes surrounded us and we were outnumbered.” Vicky shivers at memories of the fight while Finan’s fist clenches fiercely. “But we all woke up in the mornin’, safe and sound. We first tried to forget what happened, we didn’t really talk about it until it kept happenin’ again and again. And so, the world kept changing but not us, and we’ve never known why. We thought it was witchcraft, or maybe a curse, but nothin’ was makin’ sense.” He sighs, his elbows pressed against his thighs, his hands run through his thick hair. “So we kept livin’ like we always did, travelin’ in search of a battle to fight, all around Europe, for centuries. When people were findin’ out about our immortality, they were takin’ us for demons, so we had to move constantly. But somehow we were happy anyway, we had each other to carry on.”

He pauses again and Victoria understands he is reaching the difficult part of the story, the reason why he has been all alone for so long. She stretches out her hand, resting it on his knee and squeezing it kindly in an attempt to comfort him, or maybe to feel less useless in front of his pain. 

He takes a deep breath. “There wasn't space for women in our lives. I mean, there was, but not to love or make a family with. But there was this woman...” He looks up to the sky and a smile graces his face, his features easing for an instant and making him look younger. “She was a beauty, with her curled hair darker than the night and her eyes brighter than the clearest summer sky.” He chuckles a little, staring back at Vicky and sees how his eyes are already gleaming. “I'm not a very good poet.” 

She can't help but let out a laugh and as soon as it fades, his smile disappears as well. 

“They wanted to leave Europe for America, for a new beginnin'. It was promisin', rich new lands still unknown. A miracle for a bunch of men who's been treadin' the same ground for about seven centuries. But I didn't have taste for this adventure.” He opens his palms and stares at them. For the first time, Victoria notices that they are slashed by scars, white and swollen in parts. “I just wanted to settle somewhere, to have a farm, a wife and children, to watch them grow. To finally have a normal life.” He swallows, his voice strangled as his throat tightened. “So I refused to follow them to stay with her. They were… furious. Sihtric said I was betrayin' them. Uhtred shouted that she wouldn't understand once I'd have told her the secret. He was wrong on that point, she did understand, she did accept it. So I was mad at them for wantin' to keep me away from her and I let them go without me.” 

Vicky doesn't need to ask to see that he regrets the hatred he felt toward them. They weren't just his friends, but his brothers, men he fought beside for centuries. He blinks a few times until tears start to submerge his eyes. She grabs one of his hands, trying to be as delicate as he has been last night in the car, and he squeezes hers back. 

“We were happy for a time, we were having a simple life. She gave me two sons and a daughter, the apples of my eyes.” He smiles fondly, his eyes sparking with tears under the sun. “But it didn't last. It was during the Great Plague, people left London but brought the sickness with them and… And it touched our village.” 

A strangled sort of noise, much alike to a moan of ache, escapes Finan. His hands start to shake as he looks so desperate and Vicky can only hold his hand tighter. 

“They'd fallen sick, and I could do nothing but watch them grow weaker by the day. Only my little Lizzie survived. She was so young and I was so… devastated and terrorized that she would blame me for… for letting them die.” He let go of her hand to grip his hair tightly, his face hid between his folded arms. “I couldn't take care of her… I couldn't even look her in the eye. So… So I let her in a nunnery where I thought she'd be happier than with her father eaten by guilt. And I just left.” 

His last words are barely audible, loud sobs strangling them. Victoria feels distraught in front of this strong warrior utterly broken after opening wide wounds he has been trying to hide behind a mischievous smile. She hesitantly puts her hand on his back, rubbing it carefully until he leans aside and she takes him in her arms. She holds him as tight as he did in her apartment the eve, his face buried in her neck wet by desperate hot tears. Now she understands his warning about things changing without her, the pain it evoked. And she can't help but feel a wave of affection for him, realizing he really did try to protect her from the suffering he went through. 

She hugs him for a long time, even when he stops to cry, not rushing him as she supposes she's the first person he has been able to tell the full story. She brushes his hair slowly, as her mother used to do for her after she had a nightmare, his fingers curling against the fabric of her sweater. When he eventually pushes himself away, she wipes his now wet and red cheeks, his beard tickling her palms. He lazily grabs her wrists, his thumb rubbing her soft skin. She is more than aware of their closeness, of the way his light touch makes her shiver, but she doesn't mind. 

“You didn't try to find them?”

He shakes his head, looking down, ashamed. “I've always been too stubborn to try. And maybe scared they would hate me and push me away.” She nods, not knowing what to say, and she moves her hand to brush back the hair that was falling into his forehead. “And I don't even know where they are, anyway.”

Vicky stops to breathe for an instant. “But I do.” His brows furrow, creating crinkles in between and she starts to explain herself. “Just like you did! I can write down my dreams and find where Osferth is.” 

Finan opens his mouth, searching for words, but he suddenly moves away from her, standing up. “No Victoria, we can't… I can't go back to them.” He replies, destabilised by her proposition. 

“We have to.” She stands up and points a determined finger at him. “Not only for you, but also for them. They might be in danger as well.”

He shakes his head vigorously. “No, impossible, they are even more careful than me! They don't have fuckin' theorists tryin’ to prove they exist.”

“However it isn't you they were searching but me, who didn't even speak of it to anyone.” She protests and grabs his arm before he can walk away. “We don't know who those men were, nor what they wanted. If there are others, we have to warn them at least.”

She feels Finan's arm stiffen under her grip as he thinks, his eyes staring everywhere at once, looking for something to hold on but it's only her pupils that he finds, a light green shining with determination and confidence. “Are ya sure ya can find them?” He asks, hesitant. 

“I just need maybe a few more nights to collect more information, but I'm sure I can.” She eases her grip on his arm, her hand dropping back to her side, her fingers brushing his in the process. She keeps holding his gaze, she is no fighter like him, but she’s stubborn enough to not stay useless. And she knows the fact that other immortals could also be in danger would haunt her if she didn’t try something. “Trust me, please.”

Finan’s jaw twitches, but he finally sighs, bowing his head. “Alright, let’s find them.” He agrees and Vicky gives him a wide and hopeful smile. 

So, instead of continuing their way to the Irish Sea, they remain in the village, Finan coming back from the supermarket for the second time of the day, but this time with papers and pencils. It takes her three more nights of sleeping uncomfortably in the car to gather enough information to find Osferth. Each time she wakes up, she takes notes or draws things she has seen. One afternoon, they go to a library and spend it on a computer, trying to make all her notes give them a place to go. 

“He must live in France.” She concludes when Google gives them the location of a village's name she has seen on a sign. 

Finan leans forward, reading the screen. “It's in Normandie, do ya think he lives there exactly?” 

She shrugs and takes a paper where she drew a round faced woman, her brown hair scattered with thin braids and a pair of glasses resting on her nose. “He's been seeing this girl, several times. Once or twice in a supermarket.”

He glances from the drawing to her, and back again. “So, she knows them?”

“At least Osferth.”

Finan nods, sinking in the chair and joining his hands over his stomach. “So we are setting sail to France?” He smirks. 

She raises an amused eyebrow at him. “What makes you so happy about it?”

He grins even more and she has no doubt that it is hiding a long and interesting story. “They've got excellent wines.”

She huffs amusingly, wondering if he will tell her more about it. She can't help the relief she feels at seeing him smile again, after three days during which he's been sullen. Days were long, and even if she asked him to buy books and even a card game, it was hard to keep him from just sinking into his sorrow and anxiety of seeing his brothers in arms again. 

They drive to Dover and for two days Finan tries to find a fisher who would agree on making them cross the sea. When he eventually finds one Vicky feels excited and nervous about it. She has never taken a boat before, but doing it illegally is making the experience all the more thrilling. Though, she finds that she likes it as she stares at the shape of England's lands becoming smaller. She bites her lower lips, realizing how far from her family she is now. She closes her eyes, letting the wind tangle her hair and the salty smell of the sea invade her nose. And before the sadness can overwhelm her, a hand softly lands on her shoulder. 

“I thought you despised the sea.” She says to Finan, not needing to open her eyes to know it's him, surprised that he has joined her on the deck of the boat.

“I still do.” He admits, his hand moving away, and she almost wishes it hasn't. “But with good company I think I can handle it.”

She finally looks at him, but he is staring at the sea. She takes in his face: the curve of his nose; the thin crinkles in the corner of his eyes when he smiles; the multiple, sometimes barely noticeable, scars ornamenting his skin. She stops it when she feels the rise of a blush on her cheeks, pinching her lips and staring back at the sea, like the cool water could tame the heat she's suddenly feeling through her gaze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me 🤝 hurting Finan
> 
> I swear I have an issue with this Irishman being emotional 😩 
> 
> Thank you as always for your kudos and comments, it warms my heart 💕


	7. Je suis le roi, le roi des cons

“Are ya sure it’s here?”

“Yes I am. I saw the name of this supermarket and there’s no one else around.” 

Finan sighs annoyingly, leaning back in the driver’s seat, his fingers drumming impatiently on the gear level. They have been waiting in the back parking of the Carrefour for three hours now, looking for the woman they are suspecting knows Osferth. They arrived in France two days ago, and Victoria couldn’t help the surprised look she gave to Finan when she realised how good he was speaking french.

“French women find the accent sexy when I speak french and others find speaking french hot.” He explained after they asked their way to a woman who gave him a gracious smile after. 

“Oh, a real benefit then.” She commented, pretending to be impressed, even if she might be part of the other women.

Finan grinned broadly. “Indeed.”

Another thing that this time didn’t make her laugh, was Finan’s skills when it comes to stealing a car. She never felt more nervous than when he asked her to check if no one was coming while he was trying to start the car. 

“Maybe she doesn’t work today.” He mumbles under his breath but Vicky ignores him when she spots a woman coming out of the back door. 

“Oh Christ, I think it’s her.” She exclaims, taping Finan’s arm to have him look. 

The woman walks away from the door, looking at her phone while searching something in her bag. “Alright, I'm goin', stay in the car.” He says, opening the door as Vicky rolls her eyes, tired of always having to wait in the car. 

“Bonne chance!” She tells him with her best french accent, looking forward to how he'll convince the woman to tell them where Osferth is. ( _ Good luck! _ )

Finan rolls his eyes and closes the door. She immediately opens the window to try to hear something, even if she doubts being able to understand half of the conversation, but at least their tones would give her a clue on how well it's going. 

“Excusez-moi de vous déranger!” He calls the woman and she immediately looks up to him with furrowed eyebrows. ( _ Sorry to bother you! _ )

Victoria leans forward, trying to see the woman's expression as Finan and her talk. She seems on her guard, looking around and her hand playing with her car's keys. She shakes her head and starts to walk away but Finan catches her back, grabbing her arm. Doubting he will succeed with how reluctant the woman is, she opens the car and joins them, taking her sketchbook with her. When he notices her approaching, the Irishman lets go of her arm while she studies Victoria with the same distrust that she has for Finan. 

“She says she doesn't know him.” He grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“I don't know who the hell you are talking about.” She confirms with a light French accent, though she keeps staring at Vicky awkwardly. 

Victoria opens her sketchbook to a page where she drew Osferth and her on the next one. She gives her the work and her eyes widen. “You must know him, because he does know you.” She says in a soft but nonetheless determined tone. 

The woman hesitates, looking between the two strangers and then back to the drawing. “How did you do that?” She asks Vicky. 

“I've been dreaming of him, just like he probably does dream of me, right?” She tilts her head and at how the woman bites her lip, she knows she's right. Through her dreams she has learned that Osferth and she are close and that he told her his secret. Finan keeps thinking it was risky to trust the woman, but Vicky is confident. 

“Are you like him?” She asks carefully, Vicky and Finan nodding immediately. “What do you want from him?”

Vicky glances at Finan for some sort of approval before answering. “He may be in danger, we need to talk to him.”

She runs her hand through her hair before giving back her sketchbook to Vicky, her expression conflicted between mistrust and worry. But she eventually sighs and accepts. “Alright, follow my car.”

Victoria huffs in relief while Finan mutters something in Gaelic. She stretches out her hand toward the woman with a kind smile. “I'm Victoria, and this is Finan.”

“Sophie.” She replies before they separate to join their respective cars. 

Vicky can't help but smile widely once they are on the road, excited by the idea of meeting others like her. She dares to hope that this time, no one will die as when she met Finan. The thought amuses her and she turns to him to remind him of it, but she changes her mind when she notices how tensed his jaw is, his thumb tapping the steering wheel frantically. He is nervous again, like he has been since they arrived in France. He hasn't seen his friends for centuries and she supposes that he fears their rejection. Though she hopes that her presence could ease possible tensions. 

When they stop at a red light, Victoria reaches for his forearm, her palm grazing over it until her thumb can rub the back of his hand. He turns his head to her and she didn't expect his intense dark gaze to leave her breathless. However she doesn't look away and gives him the most reassuring smile she is able to make, her fingers squeezing his wrist. 

“It's going to be alright.” 

His features seem to ease at her words and he let go of his grip on the steering wheel to shift his hand and grab hers, but before he can, the light is green again and a car behind urges them to move. Victoria removes her hand, looking away as she becomes aware of the heat in her cheeks. 

They don't talk for the rest of the way. They quickly are driving through the countryside, still following Sophie close, and Vicky finds that it isn’t so different from England. After twenty minutes, she takes a small dirt road that makes the car tremble. They enter a thick pine forest and she has to hold the handle above the window’s door while the car struggles in the mud. But finally they reach a small clearing, an old stoned house standing in the middle of it. Sophie stops her car while a man, alarmed by the engine noises walks out of the house. The french joins the blond man and exchanges a few words that confuse him. Victoria gets out of the car and who she now recognizes perfectly as Osferth looks at her with wide eyes, but it's nothing compared to how his mouth drops when the driver door slams and he stares at Finan appearing behind her. 

“Finan?” Osferth calls him, disbelieving. 

The Irish warrior stops a few steps in front of Vicky, a tight and shy smile on his face, his eyes not daring to meet his friend's one. “Hi Baby Monk.” He greets him, waving his hand. 

Osferth huffs a laugh before crossing the gap between them until he takes him in a strong embrace, letting Finan frozen by surprise for a second. He wraps his arms around his friend's shoulders, holding him tightly and Vicky can't help the way her heart melts at the scene. 

“You are alive.” Osferth breathes, his hands holding Finan. 

Finan chuckles. “I can hardly die, Osferth.”

The blond man opens his mouth, but finally gives him an awkward smile. Then, he turns to Victoria, studying her intently with his clear eyes. “How did you find me?”

Finan glances at Vicky, giving her a grin before looking back at his friend. “Through Victoria's dreams. She is just like us.”

Osferth makes another huff and softly smiles at her, which she gives another huff. “I thought it wasn't real.” He blinks a few times before motioning and designating the house. “Come, come inside.”

Osferth leads them inside, and Vicky can't help but whisper 'I told you' to Finan before they pass the front door. He rolls his eyes, but keeps smiling, so she squeezes his arm gently before taking place at the table Osferth points at. Sophie brings them glasses of water and finally sits next to Osferth, quite close in Vicky's opinion. 

The former monk, if she believes what Finan told her about him, leans forward, his hands joined upon the table. “So, how did you two meet?”

Vicky puts down her glass. “Well, Finan followed his dreams, just like we did for you. One day he knocked at my door and killed himself in my flat.”

She can feel Finan offended glare at how she foretold their meeting. “That's a really short summary.” He comments, pointing a finger at her but speaking at their hosts' attention.

Vicky waves her hand. “The most important lines.” 

Osferth and Sophie only nod slowly, the story sounding really strange in just a few words. Though, the blond shakes his head and turns to Vicky with a hint of curiosity making him narrow his eyes. “But how long have you been immortal? We've traveled all around the world and we have never found someone else.”

Vicky hesitates, so much happened in so little time to her that she isn't sure anymore. “Hum… About two months.”

“Oh… So you died in the car accident?” Osferth raises his eyebrows until she nods in agreement. “And, why are you here?” He asks, this time looking at both of them alternately. 

Vicky glances at Finan, his smile now gone, and clear her throat. “Maybe you've seen it, but we've been attacked.” 

“We don't know who they are but they were searchin' for Victoria, and they knew that she is immortal even if she talked about it to no one.” Finan explains, his hand moving with the glass still in it.

Sophie gives a sort of gasp and she grabs Osferth's hand. “You think they could search for us too?” The monk frowns.

Finan shakes his head and presses his index on the table. “I don't know, but if they've found her, they can find y'all too. You need to warn Uhtred and Sihtric, to tell them to be careful.” 

“I can't warn them.” Osferth answers after a heart beat.

This time, it's Finan who frowns, letting go of the glass. “What?” He leans forward after a blink. “No, you must know where they-”

“I can't warn them, Finan.” He cuts across him. “Because Sihtric is gone and Uhtred… Uhtred is dead.”

The sudden silence is thick as Victoria falls breathless at Osferth's words. She can't believe what he said and she has to keep herself from asking him to repeat it. But the monk's tight expression, his jaw twitching and lips pinching, is enough to prove her that she heard him well. 

“What? How's that possible?” Finan asks, confused.

“We don't know, but it did happen.” Osferth answers, looking down.

“When?”

He opens his mouth, searching words and Sophie holds his hand tighter but still tenderly. “It was during the Second World War. We were going to save prisoners from German soldiers. We were just the three of us, but Uhtred was determined and sure it would go as we planned. But it was a trap, there were no prisoners. So we ran away, they were shooting at us and we got separated. It took me two hours to find Sihtric. We searched for Uhtred and when we found him, he still hadn't come back.” 

He makes a pause, taking a deep breath while tears roll down his cheeks, a reflection of those on Finan's face. But when Osferth struggles to speak through the deep sadness that his friend's loss provoked, Finan on the other hand still can't believe it, eyes wide and not even staring at the monk anymore. As Vicky blinks, she realises her eyes are wet too, of shock and compassion for her friend.

Osferth swallows before continuing his story. “We waited so long, under the rain, utterly wet and freezing like hell. But he never came back.” He wipes his tears with his sleeve. 

“Sihtric?” Finan asks under his breath. 

The monk sniffs and sighs regretfully. “We tried to stay together, but he was more and more distant. One day he just… He just left without a word.”

Finan nods but Victoria doubts he has accepted the information. He stands up, his hand flat on the table and his face dark, the chair squeaking as he does so. He is about to say something, the three others staring at him, but he just closes his mouth and leaves the house. 

“I'm so sorry.” Vicky stammers, torn apart between Finan's pain that affects her more than she expected and the shock of the revelation. She rises from her chair as well, her hand waving toward the door. “I should go with him, see if he's fine.”

Sophie walks around the table and rubs her arm in a kind attempt. “Sure, go.”

When she is outside, Victoria perceives Finan crouched, gripping his hair fiercely, his back to her. She steps carefully toward him but he doesn't react until she runs her hand between his shoulder blades.

“I'm such an idiot.” He whispers barely audibly before he stands up, towering one head over Victoria of one head. She bites her lip at how much hatred is burning in his eyes, but the anger is only towards himself. “I'm a fuckin' idiot!” He shouts, gripping his shirt over his chest. “If I wasn't so stubborn. If I had searched for them before, maybe it wouldn't have happened, maybe I could have helped, maybe-”

“Finan that's enough.” She orders him, clasping her palms over his cheeks to force him to look at her. “Rewriting the past is useless, it will change nothing.”

“They were my brothers and I abandoned them.” He mutters guiltily. 

She brushes back the hair falling over his forehead, resting her hand then on the back of his neck. “You're not responsible for what happened.”

He lets out some sort of strangled sob before leaning down, seeking the comfort of her embrace and she doesn't reject him. For the second time in a few days, she lets him cry on her shoulder, holding him tight. Her heart squeezes, thinking about the new wound Uhtred's loss is creating in the middle of the Irishman's heart already full of scars. He spoke to her of his friend and his adventures with so much pride and joy, describing the strong bond between them. She can only imagine the pain through the one she would feel if she learned Rebecca's death.

When he has calmed down, after long minutes, she stays with him while he smokes a cigarette, sitting on the floor, back against the car. “It doesn't make sense.” He mutters, smoke escaping his mouth. 

Vicky glances at him. “Maybe we are just an anomaly?” She says, not really having thought about it before asking. “And our death has just been programmed in the wrong time.”

Finan huffs, closing his red and swollen eyes before raising his face to the now darkening sky. “That's crazy.”

“As if something hasn't been so far.” She shrugs before resting her head against his shoulder, closing her eyelids as well and remaining focused on Finan's slow breath.

“Thank ya.” He whispers, barely audible as the words mixed with his exhale. 

“For what?” 

“Bein' here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy F- SIHTRIC SUNDAY!!
> 
> I'm so sorry for the time it took to publish, but I had a lot of classes and the person that proofread my chapters usually was very busy :(( Anyway! There it is!
> 
> Thank you so much for all your comments and kudos and so sorry again for being late D: 💕


	8. And I'm ready to suffer, and I'm ready to hope

Victoria has never found a more peaceful place than Osferth’s house before, it’s so far from London’s constant noise. Here the night is silent, occasionally interrupted by sounds of animals, which she sometimes finds scary enough to wake up Finan who’s sleeping on the mattress next to her bed in the living room. He usually answers her what wild animal is howling, enhanced with Irish curses as he tries to fall back to sleep. 

“Ya’re goin’ to know the sound of all the animals of this forest soon.” He comments one morning when she sits in front of him at the kitchen table.

She chuckles quite uncomfortably, guessing he’s starting to be annoyed of being woken up in the middle of the night. “I’m a city girl.” She shrugs innocently and Finan shakes his head.

Even if he’s grieving his friend’s loss, Finan keeps a rather good mood, which she supposes is due to Osferth. She regularly finds them laughing together, undoubtedly remembering old memories, which warms Victoria’s heart. She also gets to learn a lot about the monk who reveals to in fact be King Alfred the Great’s bastard son.

“So you’re royalty!” She exclaims, her fork falling back into her plate. 

“Not really.” He answers, looking down as he is ashamed of who he is while Finan is chuckling at her shock. 

“But, if you were a monk and a King’s son, how did you end up fighting for Uhtred?” She asked, the same curiosity she used to have for Finan growing for him. 

“My uncle used to fight alongside Uhtred.” He explains, his forks forming circles in the air. “I wanted to become a warrior like him.”

“And let me tell ya, that was a hard row to hoe.” He jokes at Vicky’s attention, pointing at Osferth who’s now pouting. “I've never imagined t'was so hard to hold a sword.” He giggles before taking a mouth full of vegetables while the monk blushes. “But we finally succeeded to make a good warrior of him after all.”

This time, the two men look at each other with pride, a small knowing smile gracing their faces. 

“I'd like to learn.” Vicky interrupts them suddenly. 

“What? To use a sword?” Finan frowns at her. “It's a little useless nowadays.” 

She rolls her eyes which only makes him smirk as he eats. “I'd like to learn whatever could help me to defend myself.” She explains with such determination that even Finan stops smirking to stare at her intently. “I don't want to be as useless as in London if something happens to us.”

She straightens her shoulder while holding Finan’s gaze, feeling the need to show him that she can be stronger than she looks. She thought of it a few times during the night, not dying is one thing but it still isn’t preventing her to be taken, Finan wouldn’t have been here that night, she’s sure she wouldn’t be standing here right now. And she even less wants to be a liability to the two men if anything has to happen.

She notices the flicker of hesitance on Finan’s face at the way the corner of his mouth tilts. “Please, Finan.” She insists and he finally sighs, lifting his head to the ceiling. 

“Alright I’ll teach ya.” He accepts, starting to eat again and only staring at her broad smile from the corner of his eyes. “But don’t imagine I’ll be easy on ya.” He warns her but she’s too happy to take in the warning and doesn’t even notice Osferth’s grimace at it. 

However, she soon learns that she should have taken it seriously. Vicky had a lot of sport teachers during school, more or less rigorous, but undoubtedly, none were matching Finan. He is very patient, able to show her movement a hundred times without getting annoyed, though, the lesson won’t end until she does it perfectly. He teaches her how to punch and kick correctly for a whole afternoon, her legs and arms aching at the end. She’s so exhausted that she doesn’t even wake up during the night because of animals and Finan is more than happy to finally have his sleep undisturbed. 

The next morning, after her training, Sophie comes to Osferth's place and gives a worried look to Vicky as she finds her sprawled, arms crossed and forehead resting on it. “Are you alright?” She asks, putting her hand on her back and then grimacing when she realizes she’s all sweaty. 

“Finan killed me.” She grumbles, her voice muffled by the caged formed by her arms. She finally straightens, stretching to try to make the discomfort of her painful muscles disappear. “I asked him to teach me how to fight, and I’m starting to regret it.”

Sophie laughs, sitting on the chair next to hers. “Osferth told me he was a ruthless teacher.” She explains to her and Vicky sighs in despair. 

Since they are here, Sophie comes everyday, and even stays some nights, erasing any of Victoria’s doubts about their relationship. She doesn't know the French well, but she does appreciate her already, another woman's ear always likeable. 

“I found something that could interest you.” Sophie says, taking her phone out of her pocket and opening an application before handing it to her. 

Vicky grabs it carefully and lets out a short breath at the newspaper article she's showing her. She reads the text surrounding the picture of her explaining where the police stand regarding her disappearance. She can't tell if it relieves her or not that they are clueless about it. Which for sure disappoints her is that they are as clueledd as them when it comes to the men who attacked them. She doesn't raise her eyes when she hears the front door opening nor when footsteps approach. She only looks away when she feels Finan's breath near her ear making her shiver as he leans over her shoulder, his hands clenched around the chair's back.

“What's that?” He asks, meeting her eyes briefly before staring at the screen.

She swallows and hands him the phone so he can read. “A record on what happened in London.” She explains as he straightens. “They don't know more than us.”

“Good.” He says, scrolling down the article and when he looks up from the phone, he is facing Vicky’s confused frown.

“But we could have learned more about their intentions.”

Finan shakes his head, giving her phone back to Sophie. “And by this, they’d get interest in us and it is the last thin’ we need.”

Vicky leans back in her chair. “Alright, but how do we get to know who they are and what they really want? Even if we hide, we are exposed because we don’t know our enemies.” She voices a relevant fact that even Osferth agrees with as he walks into the room, stopping to rest a hand on Sophie’s shoulder. “We need to do research about them.”

“With what?” The Irishman huffs. “All we have is a piece of paper and a revolver.”

Feeling the tension rising between Victoria and Finan, the French clears her throat. “Maybe, there was something that could be…” She searches a word, gesturing in the void. “Particular. An accent maybe?”

“They didn’t talk a lot but they were sounding English.” She answers leaving Finan’s eyes to give all her attention to Sophie. 

Finan does the same, crossing his arms. “They were fine trained men, if there’s more, it must be the case for them too.” He exchanges a serious gaze with Osferth, a silent conversation working between the two men. “We should arm ourselves, just in case.”

This time, it’s the two women who exchange an anxious glance. “I still have guns in the basement, a little old and in need of a good cleaning, but it’s better than nothing.”

On those words, the two old friends decide to spend the afternoon on restoring Osferth’s weapons. Victoria stares with wide eyes at the amount of them resting on the kitchen table, dusty revolvers and rifles. Sophie left earlier with a list of materiel to clean them and Victoria supposes they won’t have finished until nightfall at least. Her eyes instinctevely search for Finan, which she has realised doing more and more often, in the room and finally turns to the monk when she understands he isn’t here. He answers her that he is still in the basement, so she decides to join him, though she’s also curious to see what there is in it. She climbs down the ladder and jumps on the stoned floor. There isn’t much light, a simple old oil lamp allowing her to see Finan who’s staring intently at a sword he is holding. Vicky approaches him and can’t help but let out a sound of amazement as she admires the weapon, the flicker of the flame making the blade shine and a piece of amber ornamenting the hilt. 

“It’s a beautiful sword.” She says looking up to the Irishman whose eyes are glittering under the light. “Finan?” She calls him softly, her hands finding his arm. 

He blinks a few times and the tears have disappeared to let him smile. “It’s Uhtred’s sword, Serpent-Breath. I’ve never seen a better sword.” He explains with admiration.

He hands her the sword and she takes it carefully, surprised by the heaviness of it, wondering how it was possible to fight with this. But she must admit that it really is the result of a fine work, the blade, old and not as sharp as it must have been, but nonetheless impressive. 

“You have a sword too?” She turns to him again.

“Aye, but I’ve lost it a long time ago.” He shrugs sadly. 

She gives him back the weapon and lets him hang it on the wall. “What did you call it?”

He chuckles lightly before smiling broadly. “Soul-stealer.” He answers with a threatening tone but it only makes her raise her eyebrows as if she isn’t impressed at all.

“Terrifying.” She breaths, pretending to be scared. 

“Ya know, men used to call me Finan the Agile because I was a really good swordsman.” He explains, heading back to the ladder.

“Oh? And what about women?” She asks him with a teasing tone that definitely should have been thought about twice. She can’t help the rise of blush to increase as he just winks at her with a mischievous smirk before climbing up.

She curses herself for the sudden warmth in her belly as she wonders what his gesture implied. She shakes her head to make it vanish. When Sophie is finally back, they start restoring the guns, Osferth showing her how to clean a barrel correctly. She can’t help but wonder how many people have been killed with this gun as she holds one. It seems so easy to pull the trigger, in a second one is ripped of its life. She thinks back to the fight in her flat, at how Finan cold bloodedly killed the three men. Will she become like this as well if she learns how to use one? The question remains stuck in her mind until the night when Finan asks her what is troubling her. They are just the two of them in the living room as he sits next to her on the bed to remove his shoes.

She shifts uncomfortably, twisting her fingers. “What do you feel when you kill someone?”

Finan freezes at her question, still bent to unlace his shoes. “I feel bad.” He answers finally as he straightens. 

“Each time?” She asks him with an inch of surprise that makes her tone higher. “Even when they are bad people?” 

“No, it's not like that.” He turns his head to her and even in the dark she is fascinated by the intensity of his gaze. “The first man I killed was a Dane. I was still in Ireland, hunting with my father. He came out of a bush and I acted without thinkin'.” He scratches his beard before his hand slides down to grip what she supposes is the pendant hanging at his necklace. “No matter how many times I've heard people call them heathens or demons, when I saw his frightened eyes as life was leaving his body, I realised he was just a man. And I wondered who I was to take a man's life so easily.” His grip tightens, fisting his shirt as he sighs.

His hand drops on his thigh and he is close enough so his elbow brushes slightly against her arm. He looks down as if he is suddenly ashamed or scared of what she'll think of him and it makes her heart squeeze. In a little time, they both have reached a level of confidence with each other that Victoria didn't expect. Despite his lie, she finds herself unable to judge him. And it reassures her to know that after all he isn’t as insensitive as she thought. Her hand slides on his forearm until it reaches his wrist, her fingers tracing the swollen skin of a scar slashing his palm. Their proximity makes her face warm and she's glad that the darkness can hide it, so she leans to the side until her head rests on his shoulder. 

“Why did you ask?” He whispers, his breath brushing her forehead. 

She feels her heartbeat getting stronger and faster as she thinks of the right words.”When you fought that night, you did it without any hesitation. You just acted when I just stayed away utterly afraid. Now that I don’t want to be so useless anymore, I wonder if I’ll be able to act like you did, without thinking.”

“Ya don’t have to be like me.” He replies immediately, making her look up to him. “In fact, I’d prefer that ya weren’t.” He admits. 

“But one day I will. One day I’ll have lost all the people I care for and I’ll have suffered as much as you did.” She says and the way her heart aches at the simple idea makes her throat tighter. 

Finan shifts to better face her, his hands cupping her face and his thumb caressing her cheek even if there’s no tears to wet them. His eyes are staring at her with such softness despite how deep and dark they are, she feels like she could melt now and then. 

“I’ll keep ya away from that.”

Her heart misses a beat and her breath runs short. She can’t argue with him about the foolishness of such a promise, destabilized by how close his face is to hers, and because deep down she wishes he could be able to protect her from the pain. Him and no one else. His hot breath caresses her lips, making her whole body feel warm and for a brief second, she wonders how it would feel to have his mouth pressed against hers, how his beard would scratch her flushed skin. 

But before she can have an answer Finan moves away, breathing heavily. “I think we should sleep.” 

She barely has time to breathe a small ‘yes’ that he is lying in his own bed. She does the same, her hand pressed against her chest as her heart finds a steady rhythm again. She stares at the ceiling for long minutes, feeling suddenly so empty and cold. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone told me the slow burn was killing them, well I hope this is killing you enough my dear 😌
> 
> It's so crazy to read all your comments, like wow I never imagined this crazy idea would be appreciated by so many 😭💕 
> 
> Don't hesitate to come and talk on Tumblr btw (lauwrite1225), well it's mainly me thirstying on Finan lmaooo, but sometimes I say intelligent things 😌
> 
> See you next week for a chapter that you will, I am sure, appreciate ;)


	9. And all the chaos crystallised, when you and I, supercollide

Vicky can’t stop thinking about what happened that night before they parted to sleep. The way she felt attracted by him, her heart fluttering when he cupped her cheek delicately with his calloused hand. At first, she feels a rise of blush on her cheek each time she crosses his eyes but Finan keeps acting as usual with her. He smirks, jokes and makes her no gifts during training. Though, at the end of the day, when he sits next to her to remove his shoes like last night, she wonders if he’s going to try something again.

“Tomorrow I’ll teach you how to use a gun.” He says, tossing his shoes away in the room and straightening to look her in the eyes. “Is that alright for ya?”

It takes her a moment to answer yes, waiting to see if he’d come closer but he doesn’t and simply smiles before laying on the mattress, wishing her a goodnight. And as she crawls in her bed, she can’t help the disappointment to rise. When she closes her eyes, it’s last night's event that plays over and over again in her mind, and each time she realizes how much she really did want to kiss him. The thought lets her sleepless, wondering how and why she feels so attracted to him. Finan is so different from every man she has ever dated before, standing tall with broad shoulders. But he has this childish expression when he smiles so unmatching the dark beard covering his jaw and cheeks making him endearing. His body is covered by old scars of the battles he fought before he died but during the past days, she has discovered that the wounds in his heart were far from healed. And maybe it’s what she likes about him, the way he opened himself to her and how she understood he could truly understand all the pain she’s going through. 

Her heart swoons as she thinks about the promise he made her last night. As foolish and impossible to hold as it was, it’s terribly tempting to believe he could prevent her from suffering. And she finally falls asleep, a tired smile gracing her lips. 

The next morning, when she walks outside for her training, Finan has settled cans on an old stoned wall falling into ruins. She joins him as he puts a small bullet in the opened rifle.

“It looks like those they have in carnivals.” She notices when he locks the rifle in a swift movement.

He grins, giving her the weapon. “It’s because it is.” The arm feels so heavy in her hands, she wonders how she’ll succeed to shoot with it. “It’s better to start.”

He steps behind her and starts to explain to her how to correctly aim by aligning the front and rear sight. She does as he asks and tries to shoot one of the cans. Obviously it’s a failure and soon after she pulls the trigger she hears the bullet ricochet on a stone as she stumbles at the force reflection of the rifle in her shoulder that she didn’t expect. Not discouraged, she accepts the new bullet Finan hands her and tries again. But after a few other failed attempts, she lets out a long frustrated sigh. 

“It’s just concentration.” Osferth tells her as he watches from a bench in front of the house. 

“If I have to concentrate for ten minutes to not miss a target it’s not going to be really useful.” She replies annoyed, putting another bullet in the barrel.

She positions herself again but before she starts to concentrate, she feels Finan close behind her. “Let me help ya.” He says softly as he puts his large hands over hers that she never realized being so small in comparison. 

She tries to stay focused on the can in front but she can’t help but be too much aware of his chest against her back and his breath brushing her cheek as he levels his head to hers. She slows her breathing as Finan adjusts her position until her eyes, the two sights and the can are perfectly aligned.

“Now pull.” He whispers and she immediately obeys.

She lets out a small huff of joy when the metallic sound of the beer can being perforated resound in the forest. “I succeeded.” She exhales the air she didn’t realise she was holding back.

She turns her head to smile proudly at him and their noses briefly touch. She bites the inside of her bottom lip when she notices how his eyes stare down at her mouth almost eagerly. But when Osferth claps his hands to congratulate he moves away, leaving her a second time with red cheeks.

The rest of her training she succeeds to shoot other cans but she doesn’t feel like rejoicing as a deep frustration grows in her chest. When Sophie comes later, she tries to distract herself by questioning her about Osferth and her while she helps her prepare a quiche for the dinner.

“He was coming regularly to the supermarket and somehow he was always coming to my register. One day I wrote my number on the receipt but this idiot doesn’t have a phone, so he waited outside with flowers until I was finished to tell me he couldn’t text me.” She explains with a fond smile.

“That’s so sweet.” Vicky smiles, cutting the cheese in small cubes. 

Sophie nods, breaking an egg in a bowl. “And you? Did you have anyone before leaving?”

“Oh no, I was as free as the wind, and still am in fact.” She chuckles as she gathers the cheese and places it on the dough.

Sophie is weirdly silent and when she looks up, she’s in fact staring at her with narrowed eyes with a small smirk dancing on her lips. “Finan and you seem close.” She says, focusing on her eggs again.

Vicky pauses for a brief instant, pinching her lips. “It’s just that we’ve been through a lot together those days. It builds friendships.” She replies to try to prevent the conversation from taking a direction she isn’t feeling comfortable with.

“Did he tell you why he left the others?” Sophie asks, not ready to give up, which reminds Victoria of Rebecca. 

“He did.” 

“So he told you of his wife?” Vicky nods slowly, her heart squeezing at the memory of his despair when he talked about her. “Osferth asked him about her, how their life was together, but he just avoided the subject. She’s obviously long gone now, but Osferth is sure it ended more badly than Finan pretends.” The english woman averts her eyes, knowing the truth. “He told you, didn’t he?” 

“Yes.” Victoria admits while Sophie now pours milk in the bowl. 

“See? He trusts you.” She half smirks at her. 

During the dinner, between laughter, she catches Finan staring at her but each time, when she tries to stare back, he looks away. The game is as entertaining as annoying but mostly, she doesn’t understand why he keeps playing with her. That night in the darkness, she was at his complete mercy, this morning during her training too, and yet, each time he didn’t go further. So, when she sees him going outside after dinner, she decides to follow him.

“What are you nervous about now?” She interrogates him as he searches for something in the car, knowing perfectly well it’s in fact his pack of cigarettes.

He turns around, raising a surprised eyebrow at her. “What are ya doin’ outside in the night? I thought wild animals were scarin’ ya.” He teases her to change the subject.

But, thinking back to her earlier conversation with Sophie, Victoria is determined to know what she is for him. She walks toward him until only a step separates them, Finan having to bow his head to look her in the eyes. “Sophie told me you refused to talk about your wife to Osferth.” She starts and ignores his eye roll. “Why did you talk about her to me? You could just have avoided this part.”

His fingers drum nervously against his thigh as he sighs. “I don’t know, I just felt comfortable telling you.” He shrugs and she can hear the uneasiness of his voice and his desire to change the topic quickly. 

But Vicky isn’t about to let go. “But Osferth is your friend.” She replies, tilting her head.

“I thought we were friends too.” 

She wonders if he meant his tone to be so dry but it undeniably settled a tension between them, the air seeming suddenly thicker between them. She makes a step and stretches a hand towards Finan’s cheek to prevent him from looking away. She holds his gaze no matter how heavy on her it is, a warmth growing in his brown pupils provoking the one in her belly. He slowly leans forward as her thumb brushes his beard, making him close his eyelids when his nose lightly touches hers. The way their heavy breaths start to mix is bewitching, her heart beating at an uncontrollable pace, but Finan keeps resisting. 

“You want to kiss me, don’t you?” He opens his eyes. Now she can see the flicker of fear in them, the one that is holding him back and she finally understands. “I’m not going to disappear, Finan.” She whispers, her hand sliding in his unruled hair.

“I know.” He breathes and his palm settles hesitantly on her waist. “But you’re forever Vicky and I don’t want to mess it up.”

She acknowledges that it is scaring her as well, that in their situation acting foolishly could hardly be forgotten. But somehow, Vicky feels confident. Maybe it wasn't a coincidence that she's been dreaming of him first and that he was the one to come to knock at her door. Maybe it was already written. 

Her fingers curl in his hair and she draws him closer. “We won't.”

And then his lips collide with hers, making her whine as a shiver runs down her spine. She closes her eyes, relishing at the feeling of his beard scratching her skin softly and the way their lips seem to dance in perfect coordination. Finan grips her hips to switch their positions, pushing her against the car while groaning. His mouth is hot and eager as he keeps kissing her until they are both out of breath.

She rests the back of her head against the car's window, Finan's body pressed against her as he buries his face in her neck, her fingers lightly grazing over the back of his neck. This instant seems out of time and out of space, nothing able to break it, as the only thing that matters is his breath caressing her skin, his thumb drawing a circle on her hip and the weight and warmth of him against her. Finan moves slowly, kissing her neck and jaw with a softness utterly different from the kiss they shared until he meets her eyes. He puts a strand of her blonde hair back behind her ear before letting his thumb draw the line of her red and now swollen lips. She grabs his wrist and pushes it away to reach for his mouth, already addicted to the feel of it against hers. When they parted for the second time, Finan dares this time to speak.

“Let's go back inside, it's freezing.” He whispers. 

She wants to reply that she has never felt warmer than right now, stuck between him and a car, but the words fade in her throat and she simply follows him inside. Osferth and Sophie have already left to their own bedroom when they walk inside, though, it's not completely dark, a fire creaking in the old fireplace with the wood the two warriors have been cutting during the afternoon. She sits on the floor just in front, appreciating the heat of the flames, stretching her hands to warm them.

“Have you been holding back for long?” She asks when he sits beside her. 

He chuckles lightly, staring at the flames while she can't look away from the orange light dancing on his face, making his pupils turn into amber. “I could have kissed ya in my dreams if it was possible.” He turns his head, smiling fondly. “But it feels better than a dream.”

She giggles, shaking her head. “You're such a flirt.” She teases him but it only makes him grin even more. 

“I had a few years to train.”

“Old man.” She calls him, satisfied by his raised eyebrows and opened mouth as he pretends to be offended. 

She laughs at him before leaning forward to kiss his expression away, her hand curving on his shoulder. She likes the way his growl vibrates on her lips as she settles on his lap, his arm wrapping around her waist to hold her closer. 

It's late when they finally crawl to bed, Finan laying by her side. They have been sleeping in the same room or car for a few days now and she was already finding his presence near her reassuring. But there's something utterly more intimate and comfortable as his arms embrace her while she rests her head against his shoulder. 

When she wakes up abruptly, the flames have faded and Finan isn't by her side anymore. Her breath is erratic and her body shaking. Her mind is still confused but she knows what it means, she dreamt of another death. It takes her a moment to remember what happened. It's the same forest and protagonists, but this time she was staring at Sihtric until an arrow hit him in the middle of his chest, the pain sharp and overwhelming. 

Once she's calmed, she hears the noise from the kitchen and decides to see who's there. She feels relieved to see Finan, leaning over the sink while he washes some dishes. He doesn't notice her until she hugs him from behind, her ear pressed against his back to listen to the sound of his heartbeats. He turns around to face her, keeping his wet hands away from her.

“Good mornin' to ya too.” He greets her, grabbing a rag to dry his hands. 

She simply hums against his chest, holding his waist tighter. “I dreamt of Sihtric.” She says after a moment, moving away from him. 

Finan frowns, his hands gripping the counter. “His death?” She nods slowly and he can't prevent the smile from stretching his lips. “Then, we will be able to find him soon.” 

Since they have found Osferth again, he is less reluctant at the idea of finding his last old friend, even if he told her he doubts the Dane to be as welcoming as the monk. But he hopes that water will flow under bridges and that they'll forget past resentment. 

“We need to warn him too.” She says, stepping closer again. 

“Warn who?” 

Osferth's sleepy voice makes Victoria immediately step back to let a decent distance between Finan and her. But he doesn't seem to notice their sudden uncomfort as he sits at the table and pours coffee in a cup resting on it. When none of them have yet answered, he raises an eyebrow.

Finan clears his throat, walking away from Vicky. “She dreamt of Sihtric this night. We will be able to find him soon.” 

The blonde looks at them with wide eyes. “You're going to leave?” 

The Irishman hesitates, his hands clenching around the back of a chair. “Not now.” He stares at Vicky who he knows probably has the same idea in mind. “She needs a few nights to gather enough information, and we'll have to do research.”

Osferth nods, looking quite sad as he puts a sugar in his coffee. Vicky sits in front of him, lowering her head to catch his eyes. “Will you come with us?” 

He shakes his head. “No, I have Sophie here.” He answers, staring at Finan, knowing he would be able to understand his choice. 

“We'll come back, anyway.” Finan promises, patting his shoulder amicably. “I'm starting to like the place.” 

“It's safe here.” Vicky adds with a small smile and Osferth can only nod at it. 

“Good, because I would miss you two otherwise.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonjour bonjour mes chers lecteurs!  
> yeah, i'm not that good in slow burns... i'm not patient enough to make it last a thousand chapters and when i read fic with too long slow burns, it frustrates me so much lmaooo 
> 
> Anyway! When i post on tumblr, i link a playlist i made for this fanfic, and some of the song lyrics have been used for the chapters' titles (btw today's title is from one of my fav song for Fintoria (yeah they have a ship name now lmao)). So here the link for the playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Tps6q9ha20stFGZZiiM63?si=eUD6Fo7uQjGNHcZyXB20aw&nd=1 (hope it will work lol). 
> 
> Oh btw, we are reaching the middle of the story! I have 3 and a half chapter left to write and i'll reach the end of this story... It will be the first story i'll finish, i'm kinda proud lmaoo
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter! I send yall all my love and thank you so much for your comments! You're the best!! <3


	10. This is not what you wanted

Vicky is getting used to how her dreams work. The first night, she dreams of the person's death, waking up abruptly with an erratic breath after having felt the coldness of death running through her veins. Then the following nights it’s a mess of memories from a huge variety of periods of time. She sees so much during this phase that she rarely remembers everything, but she wakes up at the same emotion that the person felt. 

That’s how one early morning, when the sunlight shyly starts to fight the darkness, she wakes up with tears in her eyes and a deep sadness tearing her heart apart. Finan’s hand is on her cheek, his thumb wiping her tears as she breathes slowly to make the emotion fade.

“Are ya alright?” He asks when she finally meets his eyes in the dark. 

“Yes, I’m fine. Sorry for waking you up.” She apologizes, turning on her side to face him, his hand leaving her face to rest on her waist. 

Over a week has passed since the night they first kissed and even if they haven’t yet made it official to their hosts, Finan keeps sleeping with her. He also steals her kisses when they are just the two of them which amuses her a lot, making her feel like they are teenagers. However, she knows that the bond, no matter how confused it still is, that ties them together is far more than an infatuation.

“It's alright.” He smiles briefly before he starts to look more concerned. “Ya've been tossin' around for awhile now.”

She bites her lower lips as memories of her dreams emerge and she moves to settle against him. She closes her eyes, his fingers playing with her hair kindly, easing the tension in her body. Slowly, she remembers the story. It was cold, very cold and Sihtric was walking in the snow, his clothes wet and sticking to his skin. By his side there was Osferth, in a pretty much similar state, holding his rifle tightly against his chest. The two warriors looked miserable as they were shouting a name that she can't remember. They walked for hours in the forest until they suddenly stopped in front of a body. The man was laying in the white snow, a puddle of blood freezing around him, his chest perforated multiple times and his blue eyes opened wide to the sky. It was Uhtred. 

Now she remembers what Osferth told them the day they arrived. Sihtric fell to his knees next to his Lord, shaking his body vigorously, wanting him to come back. The Dane furiously shouted at him to wake up, slapping him. Tears warmed his cold cheeks as they trickled down his face. Osferth kept questioning him in panic on why Uhtred didn't come back yet and Sihtric only yelled at him angrily that he didn't know. And so they waited hours in the cold winter, shivering under the heavy rain that started to fall. But Uhtred never moved, his skin turning blue and his eyes still contemplating Valhalla.

Finan's hand that grazes on her arm brings her back to reality. “I dreamt of Uhtred's death.” She finally tells him and she feels him freeze underneath her. 

He doesn't ask any questions and she doesn't talk more of it, both of them knowing the wound is still too recent for the Irishman.

The days are pretty much like usual, starting every of Victoria's mornings with her training. She is getting better with the rifle, and even if she misses the feel of Finan behind her to guide her, she is proud to be able to succeed on her own. She also improves in close combat, now knowing where to hit to force her opponent to bend double. Sometimes, when she's making another task she whispers the combination of movements he taught her earlier. However, her practice has a tendency to raise a tension between them when they fight that hasn't yet been resolved.

“I win.” Finan whispers in her ear, out of breath after making her fall, keeping her firmly on her stomach against the floor and folding her arm behind her back.

She tries to hit him with her free hand to free herself, groaning when he easily grabs her wrist and presses it in the mud. He chuckles at her attempt and leans until his chest grazes over her back. She gasps a breath at his closeness, a warmth growing low in her belly as his lips hover over the shell of her ear. 

“Do ya give up?” 

“I never admit defeat.” 

He laughs again despite the determination in her tone and frees both of her wrists. He holds himself above her as she rolls onto her back and she shivers when she notices the heat in his eyes. Her tongue snakes between her lips, the sight of it making a smirk grow on Finan's face. She grabs his shoulders to pull him down to her and he closes his eyes in anticipation of meeting her lips. But instead it's her knee that meets his stomach, hitting him right in the liver. Finan growls in pain, falling back beside her in the dirt, his arms wrapped around his waist. She can't help but giggle as she straddles him proudly. 

“I told you I'm never admitting defeat.” She tells him when his features twisted by the ache start to ease. 

They quickly separate when they hear Sophie's car approaching, both of them sitting in the mud when she gets out of it. She stares at them with wide eyes when she closes the vehicle's door. “Eh bah, have you seen yourselves?” 

They frown before looking at each other and noticing the dirt on their faces but also clothes. “Collateral damages.” Finan grins as he stands back to his feet and stretches a hand out for Vicky to grab.

Sophie rolls her eyes. “You two should wash before we eat.”

It's only when they are cleaned that the French woman allows them to sit at the table for lunch, much to Vicky's joy whose belly is aching.

“How's your dreams going?” Osferth asks her when he puts salad on his plate before handing her the bowl.

She hesitates a moment, remembering her last dream. “It's still confused, old memories. But it will soon be more recent ones and I'll be able to have real clues on where he is.” She explains. 

Osferth nods and stares down to his plate. “It's really strange, once I met you, I stopped dreaming of you.”

“I did too. Once I'll have met Sihtric, I should be rid of it.” She shrugs and rests the bowl in the middle of the table. 

“Really strange.” The monk repeats, a long silence taking his words away. 

Though, to everyone's surprise, Finan breaks the silence. “Maybe it's because we are meant to meet each other.” 

Victoria looks up from her plate to find that Finan is staring at her from across the table, his gaze intense but nonetheless soft. She tries not to blush, knowing she had the same thought a few days ago, that everything may be written. 

His words stay in her mind until night time, when she watches him poke the fire before heading to bed. He removes his hoodie and lets it drop to the floor, doing the same with his t-shirt. Even if she has seen him a few times shirtless since they met, right now seeing the flames' light dance on his scarred skin really does something to her. For a week they've been teasing each other but never a step further but now she has enough of it. She stands up and grabs his wrist before he can take his sweater for the night. He raises a surprised and confused eyebrow at her, opening his mouth to speak but he doesn't even have the time to say a word before she captures his lips. He growls in their kiss when her palms graze over his chest to curve around his neck or to let her fingers curl in his hair. 

The feel of his warm skin under her hands makes her crave to feel it against hers. She chuckles when he grips her hips to guide her to the bed. She drops on it, bringing him in with her fall. She hums when he kisses down her jaw and neck, closing her eyes to relish the sensation. Their breathing gets heavier and their hands grow more adventurous, eager to discover each other.

But when Vicky grabs the end of her pullover to get rid of it, Finan suddenly covers her hands to stop her movement. She frowns at him as he looks in the direction of the front door intently, looking alert.

“What is it?” She asks him, her breath still heavy.

“I've heard a noise.” He whispers and when she opens her mouth to demand more information about it, he prevents her with his hand. “Hush.” He orders her and she reluctantly obeys. 

He removes his hand and leaves the bed, grabbing his sweater to put it back on, which makes Victoria roll her eyes in  an annoyed. He takes the Colt resting on a furniture and carefully walks to a window, his back against the wall to not make himself visible from outside. Vicky stares at him intently, still waiting impatiently for more explanation. But the sudden sound of a vehicle arriving in the clearing startles her and Finan growls a bunch of Irish insults when a white light starts to alight the room from outside.

“What’s that?” She asks him in panic as she stands up but he doesn’t answer.

Finan moves to knock at Osferth’s door, but it opens before, revealing the confused monk. The two men exchange a nervous gaze before taking Finan’s previous position against the wall. Sophie joins Vicky near the bed, her teeth biting nervously into her lips. They can hear the agitation outside, men shouting orders to encircle the house while the blinding car’s light keeps alighting the area.

“Are they the men that attacked you in London?” Osferth asks after glancing outside. 

“I don’t know, but I doubt they want us any better.” Finan grumbles, his fingers scratching his beard nervously.

Victoria makes a step further to catch the men’s attention. “We need to get out of here.” She declares, even if it’s a pretty obvious fact to all of them.

“The house is encircled, Vicky.” Finan replies, his finger making a loop. “It’s too risky.”

“But we don’t die!” She frowns, ready to run away at any moment, not fearing the bullets that could reach her if the men are armed, which they undoubtedly are. 

Finan’s jaw twitches at her sudden rise of confidence but he doesn’t have the time to contradict her when Osferth replies: “But Sophie does.”

The three immortals turn their eyes to the French who just looked at them alternatively. “Don’t look at me like that!” She orders them, hating to be their weak point. 

Finan shakes his head and stares back at Vicky. “It would be too risky anyway. If they are good shooters, the time we’ll need to come back will be enough to get caught. We need a bet-”

A voice rising in the sudden calm outside stops Finan in his sentence. 

“We don’t want you any harm!” A man shouts with what Vicky guesses is a light german accent. A simple look at the two warriors is enough to tell her that they already disbelieve him. Though, they don’t reply and listen as he continues to speak. “All we want is Victoria Davis. We know she’s here.”

Vicky’s breath runs short at the mention of her name, her heart beating faster in fear as memories of London come back to her, a shiver running down her spine when she remembers the cold edge of the gun against her temple. Finan mumbles a bunch of insults, trying to have a better look on the outside. 

“Do you think it’s them again?” Osferth asks the Irishman again and this time his answer is more certain.

“It must be.”

Finan glances at Vicky, with a worry she didn’t expect but it clearly increases hers. She can’t understand what they want from her, and why when they are encircling Osferth’s house they aren’t even asking for him. Questions without answers multiply in her mind and she feels her lungs starting to have difficulties filling with air. The man outside speaks more urgently and Finan looks back to Osferth.

“They can hide in the basement and we just try to convince them that she’s not here.” Finan proposes, which sounds like a lopsided plan but also their only one. 

“What if they take you instead?” Sophie questions them, her hand resting on Vicky’s shoulder to try to ease her. 

“They don’t want us, maybe don't even know us, the worst they can do is to kill us which isn’t that much of a problem.” He wryly answers before turning to Osferth to have his opinion.

The monk agrees, seeing no better way and they head to the hatch leading to the basement. While Osferth opens it quickly, Vicky grabs Finan’s arm nervously. She is the reason for this whole situation, of the risk they are taking and she is hating that. She couldn’t bear it if something happened to one of them. Maybe she should just obey the man to keep them safe. But she has no idea of what they want from her, why she is so precious to them that they have to engage the great means. She thinks of it, balancing the pros and cons, her fingers tightening around Finan’s arm. 

“Vicky?” His voice makes her blink, coming back to reality. Sophie is already climbing down the ladder, Osferth handing her the oil lamp. “It’s goin’ to be alright.” Finan takes her chin between his fingers to force her to look at him and he smiles confidently. 

She wishes she has the time to tell him how unsure she is about this plan but he kisses her forehead softly before pushing her to the basement opening. She joins Sophie downstairs, the room illuminated by the only weak flame of the lamp. It’s cold and she wraps her arms around her chest while Osferth closes the hatch. They can hear them push what Vicky supposes is the bed over the opening and she can’t help but bite her inner jaw, if they don’t come back, they are both stuck here. 

In the basement, the time seems to stretch. Victoria knows it’s been only a few minutes since they are here but she feels like she’s been staring at Sophie pacing the length of the room for an hour. Vicky would like to find the words to reassure her, but she’s tormented by her own worry. So she sits on the floor, her back against the wall and tries to listen to what's happening outside. But it’s barely possible, the stones muffling any voice. Though, they perfectly hear the shot resounding in the whole forest. Sophie stops suddenly, her hands covering her mouth while Vicky looks up to the ceiling as footsteps create a real cacophony. Her heart beats terribly hard in her chest. Is it one of the men who’s been shot? She doubts it, so it must be Finan or Osferth. She knows they’ll be both fine in the end, they must be, so she just tries to slow her breath, as if the men upstairs could hear her if she dares to breathe too loudly.

After too much time to both women’s opinion, the footsteps fade and engines sound arise before a complete silence finally settles. It lasts for long other minutes during which Vicky can even hear her heartbeats in her ears. Sophie still hasn’t moved from her spot, her teeth sinking into her index to calm her anxiety. When they finally hear the bed being pulled away from the hatch, they both let out a heavy sigh of relief and walk to the ladder.

“They are gone.” They hear Osferth say as he opens the door. 

“Osferth!” Sophie climbs up first and Vicky is outside as well, the French is hugging the monk tightly, his arms around her waist. “Are you fine?” She asks him, her voice breaking after sobbing. She takes a step back to check herself if he is indeed healthy, and her face falls when she notices the blood on his clothes. “Mon Dieu, you’re bleeding!”

She tries to take a better look at his wound but he catches her hands. She glares at him and before she can protest he cuts her off with a soft kiss. It releases her shoulder from a part of the tension she’s been carrying and when he moves away she is smiling shyly. Though, Osferth's expression doesn’t ease, his brows slightly furrowed and jaw strongly clenched. Vicky notices it before Sophie and starts to look around, though she already knows the answer. Finan isn’t here and Osferth is the one having been shot. Her throat tightens and her eyes start to sting as she feels the tears filling them at each of her blinks.

“Where’s Finan?” She finally asks Osferth, her breath stopping until he dares to answer.

“I… I don’t know.” He says, looking down shamefully. “They killed me and when I came back, they were gone and Finan too.”

Vicky doesn’t even give him the time to finish his sentence when she starts to walk to the front door, stepping outside and ignoring the breeze that is wrapped into her clothes as she starts to call Finan. She shouts his name while walking around the house and in the forest until there’s too many tears in her eyes and sobs prevent her to breathe correctly. Her heart is aching, torn apart between despair and guilt, and she has to lean against a tree to not fall over. She stays there for a while, sitting in the mud until Sophie comes to fetch her to hide from the starting rain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every peace finds an end sadly :((
> 
> And i won't be the first to contradict that lmaoo
> 
> I don't have a lot to say about this chapter as it raises mostly a bunch of new questions I guess. And let's try to play a game, if you have a theory, even a vague idea of what could happen a next or an explantaion to whatever question you asked yourself, go on, i'd love to read that!
> 
> Your comments are always the bests and it's such a pleasure to answer them every friday! it's the end of the week, i've been busy writing essays and listening to lessons locked up in my bedroom lmao, and it really is my little pleasure after my last class to answer them <3
> 
> Thank you for reading this story and see you next friday! <3


End file.
